Any pay cut is a nightmare for anyone. Losing a job is even worse.
This has nothing to do with the 'Pilots get paid more than we do so they should have a bigger cut'. Although, obviously Amicus and BASSA will spin it that way.
This has everything to do with productivity, pure and simple. Pilots had their wages benchmarked a fair few years ago. The system of lateness credit, block payments, lunch payments etc. etc. etc. was done away with for a simpler hourly rate. Pilot pay is a known, quantifiable amount. Cabin crew pay is not.
Long Haul are running up against the 900 flying hours per year and Short Haul are running out of hours in the cockpit. Look at a 'typical' three sector day in SH and you can often spend between 10-11 1/2 hours in the cockpit for 6 hours of flying. There is little left to give on the flight ops side.
Lets look then at the cabin crew side? Can cabin crew, honestly, say they are fully productive as a usable manpower (sorry Harriet Harperson) asset? 2-3 hours in the CRC on a turn round? Lateness credit? Lunch payments? Block Payments? CAT turnarounds? etc. etc. etc.
There is an awful lot to give in IFS and the company are, quite rightly, looking to rationalise this somewhat random structure and reduce it to an hourly rate. To be honest the ones who have the most to lose are those who benefit the most from the cherry picked long haul routes. The LH CSD's who have the loudest voice in BASSA. The ones who get shafted are the junior members and the new joiners.
Lets be under no illusion, the current trading climate is the worst seen since modern aviation travel started. The killer factor is that no one knows how long it will continue thus how long any company can survive. Kingfisher are having aircraft re-possessed and having to give up their new aircraft orders. Ryanair pilots and crew are taking (have been given?) a 10% pay cut. Lufthansa are reducing working hours thus pay. Singapore Airlines are sacking crews. The news goes on and on and on.
If BA don't take decisive action PDQ then we may not be around for the recovery. The investors will have had enough. BA's investment rating is back to junk, that means investment is harder to find, as is credit and the cost of loans goes up. A strike over outdated, overpaid and inefficient working practices in this current climate could well be the straw that breaks the camels back. This is a game of corporate Russian roulette with all the major players waiting to see who blows their brains out first so they can pick up the revenue and passengers from the aftermath. Sadly the closed shop, protectionist American system will see their carriers plying the skies for years to come propped up with tax payers money.
Don't cut your nose off to spite your face.