Let's face it. In any business, every industry there is a company that pays the best and one that pays the worse and loads in between. This is true whether it is a shop, a bank, an insurance company, restaurant, WHATEVER!
As far as UK airlines go it just happens to be BA. Big deal.
Re-Heat, if you were Cabin Crew for BA you would understand where we are coming from. I don't know the ins and outs of the banking world, but if someone worked for Barclays and had a contract (a 2 way BINDING agreement) stating their terms, conditions and the way they are paid I wouldn't find it my business to question or complain about it. And I guess I would understand and be able to empathise if Barclays then decided they didn't want to abide by that contract anymore.
There are very few of my collegues that I would describe as 'entrentched' as you put it. Most of us don't have our heads in the sand, we know we are on average better paid than our collegues at other airlines and have better conditions. We know there are areas within our department that could be addressed and made more efficient. The large majority of us are also more than happy to discuss various options with our management and trade union to find mutually beneficial outcomes.
What the majority of us will not stand for however is being shafted, as BA has attempted to do in the past. A bit of honesty, discussion and give-and-take is all most of us are asking for.