Unions are fairly useless without a large member base. After all that is what a Union is all about, the massed power of the workforce united vs the financial power of the corporation/company. With mass membership the union can provide legal power that equals what a corporation can muster. It is better to have a few very large unions with each company having it's own representation vs it's company than having 50 small disjointed unions for an industry sector. I think pilots forget that it is the internal pilot committees that should be deciding what is required from the company in industrial negotiations. The union just provides the finance/muscle to make it happen. Companies can pretend to negotiate with smaller groups because they are easier to manipulate over the long term, so they seemingly get their way, but could have achieved a lot more if the industry as a whole had proper representation.
Australian pilot wages and conditions directly reflect the fact that the union movement here is poor and misunderstood. Most people are brainwashed into thinking unions are militant and no good, and only a company based union will give you what you want... Just like believing individual negotiation leads to better wages... The Libs got you good....