016FSM,
I don't disagree with you, but unfortunately many of the arguments you present are emotional ones, and cut no mustard with the cold logical reasoning that management are faced with. Virgin has cut-throat competition in BA, and even more muscling into its turf with open skies, so therefore can't and won't pay a penny more than it needs to. Employers rarely pay 'loyalty bonuses', 'dedication rewards' or 'long-time service supplements' - they pay what they can get away with, and for cabin crew, the rather sad reality is they can get away with very little (and that's mostly due to the fact there's always more applicants than jobs). I don't say I agree with that as a policy, and - frankly - it's rather a short-term view; but if your objective is to keep costs to a minimum, then salaries are an obvious target. Look at how the penny-pinching has removed practically anything from the cabins that's not essential to save weight. I mean, they even took the vase of flowers off the J bar because it saved weight!
I do strongly believe, that crew would have got a better result by taking the 4.8% offer and sorting out the union to be better prepared for 18 months time. As it stands, the crew and company will both loose out of this dispute, and employees around the organisation are fragmented by both sides of the argument. Have you noticed the atmosphere since the strike vote was announced? Thank good it's illegal to carry weapons!
So, I sit here wondering what on earth can be rescued from the current situation. The management cannot afford to give into strike demands (as it really would set a dangerous precedent for future negotiations), and crew cannot back down because it will mean no pay deal. Either way, this is the saddest point in Virgin's history.