Uncovered six-figure salaries of hard-left union barons behind ambulance strikes: one is a former communist, another has been expelled from Labour, and a third says she is “open to working on the fringes of the law”.

The paramedic strikes are being coordinated by six-figure union barons with links to far-left Labor factions and a penchant for the dark arts.

The leaders of GMB, Unite and Unison are all union leaders with pay packages that put them firmly in the top 1 per cent – but claim to side with low-wage workers.

Former Communist Party member Christina McAnea, the £120,000 leader of Unison, has made no secret of her loyalty to Labour.

Union leader Andrea Egan is so far left that she was recently expelled from Labor for spreading messages from the party’s banned newspaper, Socialist Appeal.

Sharon Graham was elected general secretary of Unite with support from the Socialist Workers Party after promising to “work on the edge of the law if necessary”.

While £80,000-a-year Graham has said she does not want to get involved in Labor politics, her three health-focused executive councilors openly support Labor and sympathize with Corbynistas.

Another highly respected union baron is GMB general secretary Gary Smith, whose £135,000 pay packet includes £5,000 of ‘car benefits’, earning him almost four times the average £36,000 salary of a paramedic.

The militant tendencies of the union leaders make it clear that the Prime Minister must speed up plans for a permanent ban on strikes for aid workers.

Gary Smith, General Secretary GMB

The Edinburgh-born trade unionist was awarded a £135,000 package for his lifetime service to GMB when he was elected general secretary last year.

Smith joined GMB as a 16-year-old gas fitter. The union supported him to study at Ruskin College and he then worked full-time for the union, from recruitment officer to general secretary. Along the way he met his girlfriend, Charlotte Gregory, a GMB communications officer.

The outspoken leader, who backs fracking and a £15 living wage, backed Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership campaign.

But he criticized Labour’s commitment to the “environmental bourgeoisie lobby” and reminded the party that unions had “established” Labor as a “parliamentary wing to combat hostile Tory legislation”.

He preached solidarity with Mick Lynch’s striking RMT union, joined them on the picket line and last year “celebrated” his union’s “radical tradition” on the birthday of GMB co-founder Eleanor Marx – Karl Marx’s daughter.

Sharon Graham, Unites the Secretary General of the Union

Sharon Graham, general secretary of Unite the Union: Unite’s combative first female leader came to power last year with the support of the Socialist Workers Party with a manifesto for the union to be “open to working on the side of the law” . She was pictured on the poster line in Coventry

Unite’s embattled first female leader came to power last year with the backing of the Socialist Workers Party, with a manifesto for the union to “work on the edge of the law when necessary”.

Mrs. Born in Hammersmith to an Irish mother and a Geordie father, Graham often brags about how she landed her first strike at 17 as a silverware waitress.

The union leader studied at the organizing academy of the trade union congress and rose to head the controversial organizing and leveraging department of the union.

During his time as leader, the unit compiled a 200-page dossier on Sir Jim Ratcliffe when Ineos suspended a Unite salesperson.

It reportedly included references to the tycoon’s marital status and children – and encouraged people to advertise at his home and at football clubs he was interested in.

While she previously denied being behind the “leverage” scheme, she made no apologies for attacking her bosses personally.

In 2019, she even boasted that she had instructed staff to compile dirty files on 200 of the UK’s top employers.

It helped her win 80 per cent of the 450 disputes she oversaw in her first year and secured members £150m in extra pay and benefits.

Graphic representation of the average response times for category 1, 2, 3 and 4 calls to emergency services across England (left) and the average response time for each call (red) compared to the target response time (blue) for all services (right) )

Chart: The average time it takes emergency services across England to answer 999 calls

Ms Graham herself receives an £80,000 salary as chief secretary and more than £10,000 in benefits.

Ms Graham has now fought 521 lawsuits and won £200m in pay rises and benefits for 100,000 workers.

A spokesman for Mrs Graham said: “The reality is that her campaign to return the union to victory on ‘work, wages and conditions’ for members was key to her victory.

It appealed to members on the right, left and center of the union, which was more crucial to their runaway victory than any endorsement from a small socialist party, to be honest.

“Leverage follows the money. If that leads to related major shareholders, so be it. Our objective is to move both the share price and the strikes.”

Christina McAnea, Unison Secretary General

Christina McAnea, General Secretary of Unison: A former member of the Communist Party, Christina McAnea has come a long way since being denied a journalism degree. She rose through the ranks at Unison and landed the top job worth £120,000 a year last year. She was pictured on the poster line in Waterloo, London

Former Communist Party member Christina McAnea has come a long way since being denied a journalism degree. She rose through the ranks at Unison and last year landed the top job worth £120,000 a year.

As chief secretary, she enjoys benefits of more than £12,000 and appears to live comfortably in a £1.1million four-bed Victorian terrace in Streatham, south London, with her husband Robert Hill, 69.

Born in Glasgow, McAnea joined the Communist Party at the age of 16 and left ten years later after realizing that “you don’t get anywhere unless you’re in power”.

After City University crushed her dream of becoming a reporter by rejecting her application, she began her life in trade unions at the age of 24.

While she previously complimented Jeremy Corbyn’s speeches, she has moderated her views and is a strong supporter of Sir Keir Starmer and his deputy Angela Rayner.

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