Frognal,
I am well aware of the concept of applying economic pressure on the employer through loss of business to competitors - indeed this now seems to be DH's sole tactic.
However, BA do not exist in a monopolistic world, and any uncertaintity created in customers mind will result in SH passengers being driven to use the likes of Ryan, which is vehemently anti-union, and many would say is leading the erosion of T+C's for all airline employees. In the end, this could result in compulsory redundancies in BA of Unite members if BA had to reduce SH capacity because of lost volume. That's not a risk of striking -it could be a very quick reality for some. How on earth does that benefit the members of BASSA, Unite, or any other UK union in air transport ?