I hope this doesn't go all the way to Strike action. As a BA staff member (Not flight or cabin crew) I would be very dissapointed if it got this far. And I think there would be little support from outside the pilot community in BA if this were to happen, especially over this issue. And I would have thought there would be little public support as well.
A series of strikes will probably do more harm than PL would do.
I understand there are fears that this could in the future leave to a deteriation of the T & C's for pilots down the line and also harm future prospects and this is fair enough. I hope that BALPA and BA can work together to address this.
With regards to PL harming future prospects etc I think that the most harm for this will come from the middle east / far east airlines and possibly European airlines such as Lufthansa as they take advantage of openskies. Look what Ryanair / Easyjet et al have done to the European Market.
Surely it is better to come to an agreement with BA with regards to PL so that BA can meet these challenges head on.
If BA doesn't do it then someone else will and that will be to the detriment of all in BA, not just the pilots.
I hope BA isn't taken out by friendly fire from within leaving the way open for other airlines.
Just a thought, if BA was trying to set up a similar thing to PL to take advantage of markets in India / China would BALPA be up in arms?!?!