Saving face
A wise head many postings ago said that both sides in any industrial settlement must have been seen to have won something (I paraphrase). WW agreed (reluctantly) to an extension of the strike window so that Unite could ballot the membership. Although Unite said they could not recommend the offer, they would have saved face if the membership had accepted the deal.
As we know, that 'get out of jail' card was torpedoed by L McCluskey announcing the strike. Does anyone know if it is true that this was at BASSA's request?
The withdrawal of Staff travel makes it very difficult for Unite to agree any settlement. A nice compromise might have been - "Come back now and your ST is safe; stay out and lose it."
One has to feel sorry for some of the ordinary members of the union who have been conned into acting as cannon fodder by the sort of propaganda we have seen on TV and quoted in these forums.