LONDON (Bloomberg) - British Airways plc.'s (BA) pilots have been warned by the UK's Unite and GMB trades unions not to become strike breakers if an employment dispute leads to industrial action.

"It is not acceptable for trade unionists to act as strike-breakers in a legitimate industrial dispute, nor for pilots to use their privileged position to undermine much lower- paid trade union colleagues," Unite Joint-General Secretary Tony Woodley said on Saturday in an e-mailed statement.

The two unions said BA employees will jeopardise their permanent jobs if they become strike breakers and warned the British Airlines Pilots Association that it could not declare itself "neutral over strike-breaking".