GB pilots currently fly 80 hours more per year than the 6 airlines that are tracked by the pay tracker agreement. The company already gets above average value for the average salary that they pay. It's just a case of whether they are prepared to honour the deal signed a few years ago. It appears that the new ops director doesn't come from the same school (school of fair play/fair deals/keep your word/honour existing agreements) as the pilots that fly for the airline.
A strike is not imminent.
The ops director's demise might well be.