Knows,
The CTC low hour pilots who worked as 757 F/O's for Monarch were offered 6 months employment as a result of a contract between CTC and Monarch I believe. The Pilots were payed ( or perhaps more correctly repaid around £1000 per month by CTC. Many of those CTC pilots were involved with long haul operations to Bangkok etc so their "crappy" allowances were not too shabby ( I know ,I paid some of them !)
I am not sure how they "undermined" other F/O's or their salaries ? As I recall most of these fine ladies and gentlemen had very low hours and had utilized an opportunity that was available between CTC and Monarch to obtain a 757 rating and 6 months intensive ( it was summer ) experience to put some heavy hours under their belts. They would have achieved that if nothing else. In reality some stayed on at Monarch on permanent contracts ( after 6 months) then earning salaries in the mid 20k region rising within only a few months to the appropriate standard salary grade. Others that could not be offered permanent contracts were assisted in finding employment with companies such as the then Flying Colours etc.
It was quite a few years ago that this opportunity existed and today some of those young pilots are still here earning a very good salary with high industry standard benefits.
I bet there are plenty of people reading these forums that would give their eye teeth for a similar opportunity today, so if this was the "worst ever salary" there must be some very lucky people out there.