Union barons have declared war on economic recovery According to the charming Bob Crow earlier this week, if "you all spit together [at the Government], you can drown the b*****ds!" The words were indicative of the hard left union barons who only recently wanted to destroy the success of the Olympic Games with a series of strikes. The public would have punished them severely so union leaders withdrew to lick their wounds. However, there is no doubt they are still hell bent on a full frontal confrontation with the Government. Throughout the TUC Congress earlier this week, union barons shrieked that the Coalition Government has "declared war on our people." In fact, it is the union leaders who have declared war on Britain's economic recovery. In doing so, the highly-paid union barons are further damaging the reputation of their decent hard-working members in the eyes of the public. The call for a national strike - whipped up by the barons - will do nothing to help ease the path to economic recovery and will gouge deep division at a time when the UK should be continuing to celebrate a period of national unity, topped by the phenomenally successful Olympic and Paralympic Games. But that's the point, the union barons don't want unity because disunity, protracted fights and bitter strike action keeps them in their jobs. Although it leads to unemployment and misery for many of their members; but that's a detail for them. The large majority of their members do not vote for either their leadership or their strike action. Without a perpetual fight with the Government, what would be the point of the union bosses? It's easy to see why they try so hard to defend their positions. They've got massive pay pots to look after: £100,000 plus salaries, complete with pension entitlements and all manner of other perks don't just look after themselves, you know. David Prentis of Unison - the origin of the "declared war" quote - pulls down a remuneration package of £118,933 including expenses and car allowance. RMT chief Bob Crow, who lives in a council house and is no stranger to a £650 lunch in Mayfair, pockets an eye-watering £131,330. Even his two assistants have pay packets of £94,000 each. The NUT's General Secretary Christine Blower receives £154,556 for her role, and the Fire Brigades" Union has no less than six officers on over £100,000, ranging from £124,313 to £108,634. And the list goes on. Pension contributions for union chiefs alone are typically in the £35,000 region, stratospherically higher than the workers they represent. Given that these barons are politicians in all but name, the public should know their salary levels and they should be made accountable for their actions. Late last year, I wrote to the General Secretaries of the largest unions asking them to cooperate with my proposal to establish a transparent Register of Interests, similar to those for politicians. I received only one response and, perhaps unsurprisingly, it was not favourable. There is a clear hankering for the 1980s among the unions" top brass and the disgusting spectacle of t-shirts in Brighton celebrating the death of Baroness Thatcher shows just how nasty the Left really is. Theirs is a world of extremes, where compromise is impossible and only bitter political struggle works, a world where even the cruellest of propaganda, singling out an elderly woman with a lifetime of public service behind her, is somehow fair game. Ed Miliband is saying that no one wants strikes, yet he remains in the pocket of the trade unions and often equivates in his criticism (perhaps because over 80 per cent of Labour Party funding still comes from the Trade Unions). Whereas other politicians have to engage in debate and weigh up positions on their merits, union chiefs hold the country to ransom through blunt threats, irrespective of their cost to the economy. The general strike in November last year (which Miliband refused to condemn) is estimated to have cost the economy £500million together with job losses, and notably lacked the support of the majority of union members. The vast majority of union members are decent, hard-working people trying to do the best for themselves and their families. But they are being totally let down by their bosses, protecting their fat salaries via a declaration of war on the Government, the economy and recovery. As delegates travel home from Brighton, they should undertake some serious soul-searching to assess whether they think their current approach is the best way to represent ordinary members" or the country's interests. Rob Wilson is the Conservative MP for Reading East