When we first introduced Carmen (the crew bidding system) we could have gone down the seniority bidding route but it was deemed that with crew post 97 on considerably less basic pay it would not be fair for them to also have the least chance of bidding to maximise their earnings. This two-tier pay system is why we do not have the senior crew doing all the best trips! Pilots are all on one pay scale.
Sorry, I think my point was that therein lies lots of the unfairness in the current system....people should by all means be paid that little bit extra each year than the previous based on experience/seniority, but the day-to-day work, that we all have to do should carry an element of standard pay, so that the senior people can't double their advantage, or if they're bassa reps, triple it.
Cabin Crew seem to spend so long looking at what the pilots have and complaining, so why has no-one suggested copying the sensible parts of their agreements for the better good of the majority of cabin crew?