I am a customer of BA._ I have never worked for any airline._ I own a few shares in BA but not enough to warp my judgement._ We are seeing history being made._ Some years ago the current industrial relations laws were altered by those who sat in the House of Commons and discussed this, presumably in committee._ The result of their efforts are the current laws._ The elected members of Parliament had as their guide the history and record of industrial disputes._ But it would not help their discussions that there would be conflicting histories and mismatched records of each of the past industrial disputes._ The MPs then framed the present laws.
This BA/Unite conflict has tested the limits._ It has probably tested the limits much more robustly than any of those MPs could have envisaged._ Several actions in this conflict have been controversial._ There are those who will say that this conflict demonstrates that the laws are biased against Unions, others will say the laws are biased in favour of Unions, others will say the laws are ok._ Nevertheless, history has been made and this historical episode is not over._ How terrible for those individuals who have had their finances or self-esteem bruised.
From an understanding of how industrial action can be allowed to happen in a democratic society - and what bounds and controls are fair or unfair, this conflict will go down in history as a text-book example.