There is probably a bit more to this story than the press has offered up, but on the face of it,
two CC/Stews/FA's were unable to function as a crew and thus cost their passengers a non trivial delay and their company (who are in the midst of some problems, to say the least) some serious issues.
So, can the Captain no longer call in his crew and get them to "get on with it for this mission and sort out your differences on the ground when we get to destination" because he's in charge, or because she's in charge,
or
is this possibly a case of manufactured outrage (like massive call in sick protests) due to the current corporate-labor tension with AMR?
Again, not much to go on from the media report, but it raised a question or two based on what was reported.