Anna Karenina extras "scandal"

I got back last night from the second round of filming the mowing scenes for Anna Karenina by Tolstoy. While we were away somebody told us about that the filming had made the papers because of extras being supposedly underpaid. Read the article in the Independent here.
Well, I can understand that there should be a minimum  wage for this kind of work the same as anything else but, to be honest I can’t imagine who of our group would have complained. Everyone I spoke with agreed that it was great fun and the pay was a bonus for the chance to mow together in a huge team of scythers. A lot of the time we just hung around in our false beards or peasant dresses soaking up the sun and atmosphere.
All the production team were helpful and friendly, and patient with our inexperience of the film industry and constant early-morning peening. Getting paid to hang out with friends, have a laugh and dress up as Russian peasants? No complaints here.