Well, looks like BA is going to go spiralling down the pan. Doesn't matter what the rights and wrongs of it are, the travelling public will never forgive them. Even if it was called off now I bet the management would still leave the flights cancelled on the grounds they had to "plan for the worst".
Personally, I reckon if your workforce goes out on strike, the buck stops with the management. How can it NOT be a management failure? Plus of course good money says they want the CC to strike anyway. But its rather like in the olden days, if a naval crew mutineed they might all be hung after the event but a 'Captain' that mismanaged his 'crew' so disastrously would likely be finished professionally.
Having said that, a 12 day strike is just bonkers. They could easily do a 30 minute stoppage to demonstrate resolve without causing an unretrievable screw up. Hell, even 15 minutes would make the point. It like trying to get your kids attention by shooting them between the eyes with a .44 magnum.
pb