Fully agree that crew want what is fair, have mortgages,bills to pay BUT if a strike was to go ahead there is no doubt it will be damaging to the airline and there would have to be cutbacks. That in itself could possibly result in job losses, loss of routes, loss of passengers (less revenue) so can anyone be sure that they will then still be in a position to pay their bills, mortgages etc? It's a very big risk to take....
The actions so far must've made the company realise that times are a changing and when future pay negotiations come around, that the crew are a force to be reckoned with, BUT if a strike goes ahead now, will there be money in the pot for subsequent pay deals etc...?
As for those who say they have been at Virgin for quite sometime and aren't prepared "to jump ship" as they would lose their seniority and have to start at the bottom all over again - fair comment but thats the standard in aviation (unless companies are looking for direct entries). But ask yourselves whether or not you're position at Virgin is guaranteed...? I doubt the job losses will be based on a 'last in first out' basis, but i wonder if the Performance Monitoring will be looked at....?