Are not higher levels of sickness a symptom of traditionally poor management and supervision. The symptom is not exclusive at BA to CC but is manifest throughout the company. It must be noted that high levels of sickness are sometimes associated with the variouis activitys taken place within the UK - Wimbledon used to be one of them.
NECC start pay is indeed about £11,000 and let us not forget there are a couple of hundred in the job pool waiting for employment and also many thousands of othes out there. If BA management had a mind to they could swamp the area with new rate staff. PC is not new and not exclusive it is reflected across the company in particular Ramp services, Turnaround Managers and Passenger Services centre at Newcastle, all three areas having been specifically changed and back filled with staff on new and lower rates of pay.
The plus point is that BA have been doing this since I joined nearky 40 years ago. It is always a focus when business is poor, however, once it picks up again and with the arrival of the A380 we will hit the panic button again and staus quo will remain until the next crisis. Happy Xmas!