I agree with with the Doc on the solidarity issue but I'm afraid that there are always Engineers that would work IF any industrial action was taken.The percentage of pilots that would work in the same situation would be far lower. Most Airline & Maintenance companies know that we as a profession are not strong hence todays situation of difference in wages. Although I'm not keen on them a strong union like the pilots have is the only way to go. Modern aeroplanes are more reliable but they still need someone to certify them when they fall over the A licence mech can only sign for so much and cannot issue a CRS. MELs are not that generous when it relates to ETOPS a/c and nowadays the operators rely on that approval a lot as it affects many other things ie crewing hrs and sector times etc. As airlines get more a/c the only thing that limits them at the moment is not the number of flt crews it's only the number of qualified people available to look after them. Its not just LAME's that are thin on the ground most if not all compannies that support aircraft operations are desparately short of tech services staff. We hold the cards but we are not ready to use them.