Myk Hunt,
That's the problem, only a few of the Ryanair pilots are members of the British Pilots' Union (Balpa). Ryanair is staffed mainly by Irish pilots, some of whom are members of an Irish Pilots' Union and it also has many pilots from foreign countries who are only too glad to earn some hard currency.
The strength of any Union lies entirely with its members. If 100% of the Ryanair pilots belonged to the same union and threatened industrial action over this issue, it would have been sorted out in 10 minutes.
As it always is with pilots, selfishness + no balls = no progress. But at least they will enjoy 'flying aeroplanes', the main requisite of so many of my colleagues. In my case, I passed through this stage many years ago and my main requirement now is, to quote a retired pilot, '£ notes, and lots of them!"