Sadly I have to concur that BA cabin crew are generally unwilling to think independently during disruption. The entire operation is at the mercy of a phone call to the union in the first instance and the DOMs in the second. I have personally witnessed incidences of members of the cabin crew on the phone to BASSA after pushback instead of doing what they should be doing. I don't know who was more surprised, I that I had seen it, or they, because they hadn't expected Nigel to be out of the flight deck after pushback and catch them at it. To give credit where it's due, many of our crews are excellent at improvising with the passengers during long delays on stands, with juice rounds and meals served, but to suggest that anything occurs regarding duty hours without first getting the say so of the union would be innaccurate.