Concerning the unions and their role: it has been said that Thatcher isolated groups so that they could only campaign and operate within their own direct sphere. In many fields this was a good thing for the country as a whole.
However, and this is true for most of the European countries I know, the national union is that of the national carrier. In relation to what they have achieved for their chosen few, they have done very very little for the profession on a national scale. The national officers have been scant in their endevours when compared to the more traditional industrial unions, who are much better organised on a national scale. They have stood up for their industry as a whole, and conducted local bargaining when necessary. Aircrew unions have allowed T's & C's via e.g. FTL's etc to steadily drip away. This was a national issue and they did nowt.
On basic issues there is so much more that the union 'leaders' could have done to oppose the steady decline of the profession. It hasn't reached coal miners' depths yet, but it is on the slide, and without any fight on the horizon. Lots of huff & puff.
The arrogance to charge 1% for what you get is disgraceful. The best advertising any union could have is to demonstrate where they want the profession as a whole to go, and show they are en-route to that goal. All tbis argument about 100% membership within 1 company or another is irrelevant. A good workers' council, as on the continent, with an adult professional management/employees relationship and 100% representation, will achieve staisfactory local conditions. The national union can then concentrate on the foundations of the profession.
Sadly, they are blinkered by the national carrier and forgetful of their true members.
I'm sure most unions, if 100% of pilots were members, would receive more funds from outside the national carrier. It would then be upto the smaller groups to demand value for their money and improvement in the general conditions of the profession. Fine tuning locally will always be necessary. Sometimes it seems as if the union itself enjoys a divide and rule policy among the lessor members so that they can keep the status quo with the national carrier on top.