Well said Artificial Horizon!
You have restored my faith in BA after some silly comments by others - On the strength of your comments alone I have cancelled my Virgin alternate to LAX next week that my staff travel booked me yesterday when this blew up. My family has been linked with BA since I was a wee chap and grew up "within the family" at outstations throughout the word. The company treated my family very well and I benefitted from fantastic staff travel opportunities - just as the baggage handlers families no doubt still do but won't for much linger if they continue in this vein...BA will simply cease to exist.
It saddens me to see BA dragged into this dispute in this way - It is ridiculous to blame BA for the current situation at GG - BA has worked hard and everyone has felt the pain (including members of my family who were also outsourced) for 4 years after 9/11 to survive and be competitive in the global marketplace and had just seemed to turn it round - It's not just Virgin who are laughing it's also AF-KLM, Europe's largest airline and LH - they wil benefit from disillusioned passengers and cargo agents choosing them over BA for the vital transfer traffic from longhaul destinations.
Anyway I hope this is resolved by next Thursday cos I've burnt my bridges now!