Not bizarre, just good old fashioned power politics.
- Keep the rates high to attract new recruits to the Union
- They will then be glad of the Union and see that it is working for them
- Higher rates keep the Union of more critical importance to the Company
- Higher rates keep the Union in more money
- That makes the Union reps of more importance
I take your point ... it could be described as "Power To The People [At The Top]" rather than any genuine concern for the rest of the people.
As an aside, I think I just heard on the BBC that the price of oil is going up on the back of the unrest in Libya.
BA is not out of the woods yet, by a long way.