MEOW - or should that be mAEEU?

We've had complaints about management fat cats in the former public utilities creaming off vast perks for themselves.

And now high-ups in the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union are following suit and set to retire 10 years early on the equivalent of full pay.

Just for good measure, they will also get lump sums of as much as £50,000 and be allowed to keep their Rover and BMW cars.

Packages for officials of the union, one of the largest and most loyal Labour Party affiliates, are expected to be worth up to £500,000.

Not bad for less than an average lifetime of service.

Such payouts are said to be unprecedented for unions, and rare even in private enterprise.

They're sure to provoke a backlash among grass-roots members who've paid subscriptions all their lives.

And at any rate, they will certainly provide ammunition for Tories who are sure to claim hypocrisy in the wake of Labour's unrelenting assault on boardroom fat cat salaries and pay-offs.

It certainly has Orwellian overtones.

All are equal - but some are more equal than others.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.