This article is the subject of a legal complaint

Millions of trade union members working on the minimum wage are paying about £10 a month to fund vast bureaucracies, lavish lifestyles and support for myriad eccentric political obsessions.

The general secretaries of Britain's 15 biggest unions earn between £80,000 and £110,000 in basic salary, according to the latest accounts. But the figures do little justice to the perks and benefits enjoyed by those who reach the top of the workers' movement and represent the poorest in society.

According to figures obtained by The Times, Derek Simpson, joint general secretary of Unite, received £89,035 in benefits on top of his £105,217 salary in 2007 - giving him the largest package of any general secretary. His total pay and perks, including pension, housing benefit, employers' national insurance and car benefit, worked out at £194,252.

This means his rewards substantially oustripped the earnings of the other joint general secretary at Unite, Tony Woodley, whose total benefits package was worth £112,202 - £82,050 less.

Mr Woodley's own perks sparked controversy in recent weeks, as part of the tit-for-tat warfare inside Unite. Over Christmas it was reported that he was seeking a lump sum of up to £100,000 to vacate a heavily subsidised London flat granted to him as an inter-union favour by the Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions (CSEU).

The property, a historic building close to Westminster, was Mr Woodley's home for 15 years, rented at a fixed price of £200 a month with his electricity and heating bills included.

This was never declared to the regulator because, Unite says, it is a benefit “from a third party”. It has never been registered as a residential dwelling so Mr Woodley has never paid any council tax on it. Unite refused to comment on this matter.

Details about the internal workings of trade unions are held by the certification officer, whose website reveals that general secretaries receive all sorts of benefits in kind for their work.

Keith Norman, the general secretary of Aslef, the train drivers' union, received £21,141 for a car and accommodation, on top of his £71,381 gross salary. Despite Aslef being one of the smaller unions, with 16,156 members in 2007, he received a pension contribution of £22,856 a year that took his total remuneration to more than £115,000.

Dave Prentice, who runs Unison, which represents 1.3 million public sector workers, received £11,646 in expenses and a car. Paul Kenny, the head of the GMB, received £8,000 for car travel and £26,000 pension contributions on top of his £81,000 salary.

The highest pension contribution of the main unions went to Matt Wrack of the Fire Brigades Union, who received £44,281 as well as £5,134 in car allowance on top of his £66,389 salary.

Others were more frugal. Steve Sinnott, from the National Union of Teachers, who died last year, received £674 in luncheon vouchers. The salaries of union barons other than the general secretary are not disclosed.

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