From the Emirates forum there was a post which had this youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHZMn9yOBwg

Read the comment in it: "If your baggage is lost we make multiple attempts to contact the owner.. i think after 3 months if its not claimed then it goes into an "auction" where the employees at the airport bid on 1 cart of bags ( from 20 - 40 bags) avg price goes bout $700 - $1500 and 90% of the time the person who bought the cart set up makes $5000 +"

I mentioned my opinion in that forum, but think it needs a wider audience...

It certainly gives employees an incentive to not care about the safety of anyones bag. I don't know if that's just for this airport (Miami?) but I'd be shocked. It would provide a nice incentive for employees not to follow up contacting the owner correctly (or removing any id and claiming it had none). If anything, they should give them to charities to sell.

If I had it my way (which will never happen, but I can dream), I would make % lost baggage a factor in wage/bonus reviews as an incentive to improve the situation. What they have right now is an incentive to make the situation worse!

What do you guys think? Is this terrible behavior or what - and more importantly - does anyone know if this is the typical approach used in most airports?