Facts about the strike
BA made an offer to Unite prior to strike dates being announced. The offer was made with the clear understanding that strike dates would not be announced prior to balloting the cabin crew. This is because once strike dates are announced customers stop purchasing tickets and existing customers cancel their flights regardless of the outcome of any ballot. Unite chose to announce the strike dates immediately. Coupled with that they had stated that they would not recommend the offer to their members. Having incurred the strike costs BA could no longer afford the original offer and therefore withdrew it. Unite knew this would happen but had every intention of calling for strike action regardless.
The Labour Party will almost certainly lose the general election in May and the Trade Unions will be severely restrained by a fiscally responsible Conservative government. This is therefore the last throw of the dice for a Labour movement firmly entrenched in the 1970s. The cabin crew are Unite's pawns in this power play and the losers are all of BA's staff and their hapless customers. The Labour Party meanwhile is not so much shackled to Unite as a willing partner and, as we now learn, fully paid up member in this destructive union movement.
I trust this has helped clarify some of the arguments raised in this forum.