Hmmm, this is a interesting thread. I don't normally post but this one...I can see it from a different perspective in that I am a maritime professional with a flying problem.
My industry has been thru a similar stage (although about three hundred years longer) where times were tough, markets were down and employers treated crews like cr@p.
A lot of folks here mentioned how a union could help, others went on to point out how that would never come to pass. I'm here to tell you that it can be done, in fact it has been done. Ever heard of the ITF? If not, take a peak at
www.itf.org.uk
You might be surprised to learn that they do represent civil aviation, in fact I think they have some big case on now on behalf of Ryanair workers. I guess its a case of getting a local union together to work as an affilate. You then have GLOBAL leverage.
However, the ITF alone did not make things better for us. This may sound terrible but it was a number of nasty accidents (remember Exxon Valdez? The Erika? The Treasure?) that forced governments, regulatory authorities, insurers, banks, not to mention environmental bodies to act and shipowners were pressured into maintaning top quality sea personel which takes good conditions and dineros. We are under a huge amount of pressure for our actions these days (some of which is fair enough) for eg, there are lots of places where we get locked up for spilling just a tiny amount of fuel or residue etc (I'm talking litres) even if its a mechanical failure beyond our control. A serious case of guilty until proven innocent.
The reason I bring this up is that you folks are under the same sort of pressure albeit in different ways and in my opinion should be rewarded for it. The ITF argued on behalf of seafarers that if the world wanted us poor sods to spend 9 months at sea and be held responsible for everything under the sun to the point where we are jailed for it, then they could sure as hell pay us for it. You're in the same boat (excuse the pun, couldn't resist) and I agree that you need blanket representation.
On the other hand, I do think the aviation industry has some issues to work out within itself first. Forgive this from an outsider looking in but I always get the feeling that you folks are really cut throat and independant of one another in the way you do things. Perhaps circumstances dictate this but we in the maritime biz are so much closer together and supportive of our "brothers in arms". I think this may be half your problem.
Re comments re comparison of proffesions, In my opinion both the aviation and maritime industries have unique characteristics in this regard and can't be compared to others. You have the pressures of passengers, most of us have the pressures of the potential magnitude and consequantial effects of our accidents. To make master (captain) on a medium sized dry cargo vessel (panamax) will take you on average about 15-20 years at sea. You need similar qualities as an airline captain. I think anrguments comparing this and the aviation industry to lawyers, accountants or any other 'warm and fuzzy' occupation are a waste of time.
Of course, all just my opinion.
AD