The company saying there is no more money to offer and a final offer has already been made, was said after day one also, and subsequent offers transpired
Ah, Scooby. How I missed you over the last few days
This presumes there is a bottomless pit of money; which of course there is not.
As I have already suggested, and no-one has yet provided a rebuttal, is it not feasible the first offer was the best offer they could afford *at the time*. Given enough pressure, they can go back to their spreadsheets, see what savings can be made elsewhere (and that includes the crew having to make concessions to help pay for that) and then come back with a revised offer.
Since you and I last discussed the matter of the cost of funding crew pay demands, I have found the latest profit figures post earlier in 2007. In it, Virgin only made marginally over £3m. That would be wiped out by your 5% no strings demand; so I can totally understand the resistance from the management.
Now, it has to be said that the pathetic profit numbers are mostly due to Virgin Nigeria eating about £40m of the company's turnover; and I do wonder whether there is a long-term future in which Virgin Nigeria will give the company a return. I do hope so, otherwise it was an unholy mistake.
Back to the rises; I actually think you deserve more than 5% (pick yourself off the floor, Scooby!). I've studied the last CAA figures and genuinely think a realistic goal should be an average cc wage of about 15K. That would be an average rise (based on the same CAA figures) of around 11%-12%. The important part is how do you get there. Not all in one step - that would be unmanageable for the company's delicately balanced annual operating plan. And you would have to make deeper concessions on benefits and terms, otherwise the company isn't going to wear it. I support the idea of building some kind of incentive into the deal so that the sickness problem can be reduced (and therefore leave more money in the pot to reward those who actually fly).
But, I still think the strike is a big mistake. The company isn't going to budge (they're going to too much effort to prepare for the long haul, if you'll excuse the pun). The strike will cost the company money, and yes, that will be an excuse for no payrises for a long time (for any employee). If there was any way to avoid the action, but get prepared for negotiations in April, I'm pretty sure the company would be amicable to avoiding another long drawn-out dispute. Whether the company thinks the union is toothless or not, the very threat of strikes effects business, and VS need to avoid any more of that. One thing though - the union needs to be beaten into shape and realise what their responsibilities are, or shown the door.
Hope your New Year was a good one, Scooby