CAP493 well said, about time some real truths were written. One thing thats also worth mentioning is that NATS will be hit by huge penalties for delays if there were a strike (although no one knows what they might be striking about yet!) Possibly enough to push the company into bankruptcy (all income is revenue there is no pot of gold making interest), where would the pension fund be then? Hardly surprising that senior management are concerned about a strike as its not in their best interest to have the company go to wall, despite the assertions in this thread that their entire motivation for joining NATS is to rape and pillage. To date I've seen absolutely no evidence that this is the case, in fact I see them trying to establish the company as a proper business, make it more focussed and efficient and more profitable (shock horror! a business that makes money, who'd have thought!)
The issue of pension and pay are two entirely separate issues, as is the CEOs pay he's on a contract and negotiates with the board for himself.
BD