This will backfire big time. Maybe not on the short run, but it will set in.
The worst punishment you can inflict to a pilot, (next to cutting his pay and i fear we will be there shortly), is to keep him on ground and restricting his liberty of movement. We live to fly or to have time off. Reserve is a necessary evil, but what's on the agenda at EK now is pure punishment. Everyone knows that, therefore everyone knows they want to punish us. That is next to nothing any leader should avoid. If a company now goes ahead with such a disgraceful procedure, they display a level of arrogance and powerplay that has some longterm bad consequences.
I agree that we should behave to show them our dismay as fast as possible, for the sake of us AND the company.