Guys, let's cool down for a mo.....
There was no first class cabin on the aircraft, so the pilots could not receive their contractual benefit, that's a matter for resolution internally.
What happened was that passengers were moved from pre-allocated seats to accommodate crew who apparently showed bad grace in the public eye, as Paxboy says, this is unwise in today's social media environment - whether the pax were revs or non revs is unclear, though I suspect they were revs from the wording of post #10.
This story embodies, at least for me, the ineptitude of the airline sector in being unable to manage situations that are predictable - if I read post #10 correctly, there were free seats in business class and the airline failed to manage the allocation of these - had the crew been allocated seats in the first class zone, before they were offered to the passengers, this situation would have been avoided. Why is it that situations with advance notice catch airlines unawares - the rest of us look ahead, plan contingencies and keep our customers happy - as they are the reason we exist.
To inconvenience passengers with a 2 hour delay, because of an intra-company disagreement is totally unprofessional.