Wiggy I'm fairly sure they'd be on very shaky ground legally trying to issue direct pay cuts in a profitable company. Even the weakest Union (Balpa?) could defend that position with ease.
As I said that would be p*ss poor and clueless management for any CEO to come in and immediately set about destroying the terms and conditions of the staff with the argument of increasing profit. You'd increase profit by paying the staff nothing too, doesn't mean you can get away with it.