Sharon Graham, General Secretary of Unite the Union, has long championed herself as the workers’ fighter — a firebrand who once led her first strike at 17 and who famously went to war with Amazon and British Airways over workers’ rights.
But now, questions are being raised about whether the leadership of one of Britain’s most powerful unions is still living the reality of the members it claims to represent.
While frontline staff in care homes, warehouses, NHS wards and bus depots fight for inflation-matching pay, Unite’s leader is reportedly worth between £800,000 and £4 million — a staggering sum for someone meant to embody the spirit of working-class struggle. The previous General Secretary was paid over £100,000 a year, and Graham’s current salary remains undisclosed.
Many will argue she’s earned it. That she’s one of the few union bosses who still uses the word “strike” and means it. But others are asking: how does a figure with millionaire-level wealth still claim to be shoulder-to-shoulder with workers using food banks?
It’s not just the money. It’s what the money symbolises.
Unions once stood for modest pay, transparency, and leadership grounded in lived experience. So when the General Secretary earns six figures while hospital porters strike to keep their heating on — it’s not just a PR problem. It’s a credibility problem.
The danger? That unions start looking less like grassroots movements — and more like corporate machines with their own elite.
Nobody’s saying leaders shouldn’t be paid well. But in a country where wage inequality is spiralling, and workers are literally dying on the job, perhaps it’s time for trade union leaders to walk a little closer to the ground again.
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