From the Unite website:
Low wages, reliance on tax credit top-ups and the distress of being forced to deliver a poorer service to passengers are the real reasons behind the BA dispute, says the airline's cabin crew.
The issues are highlighted in a video released today (Tuesday) by crew and their union, Unite, who have jointly produced the film in order to set the record straight about the causes of the current dispute.
According to Unite, the 13,500 crew have been grossly misrepresented by their employer. One of the major distortions, challenged in the video, is that the crew are highly paid. In truth, around 75 per cent of all crew do not earn more than £20,000 per year. In fact, as the video shows, so poorly paid are many of the crew based at Gatwick that many of them rely on second jobs or Working Family Tax Credits to top up their earnings to a level where they can support their families.
Despite this, the union is still intent on getting a
pay cut for it's members, rather than accept the imposed solution of reduced crewing levels.