hula
I understood what you were saying, I just wanted to highlight that some (not you) were trying to intimate that the VCC program had many initial reasons for it's existence. The only reason the VCC program came about was as a tool to make the strike irrelevant to the operation. The other stuff may be a nicety but is not important.
It is also important, I think, to stress that BA - or indeed any company facing strike action has a right and a duty to it's shareholders to try to fight the essentially thuggish action of industrial blackmail. The view that it is somehow disrepectful of the strikers, or in some way underhand is very childish and naive. It is the stance of a small child in a playground that somehow thinks there are no consequences to their actions. A small child will often scream that something is unfair when they don't get their own way, a bit like the constant whine heard from BASSA supporters about the VCCs. Maybe the strike would have been successful if there had been no VCC's but then if I had won the lottery last night I would be a millionaire - it's not fair the machine did not pick my numbers.
I apologise, hula, my post came across as a criticism of what you said, and that was not my intent.
JT