Balpa is in-effective and expensive. Give yourselves a 1% pay cut to join. Teaming up with cabin crew in the same union can only strengthen our position as a united workforce.
As pointed out by others, "Balpa" has nothing to do with the negotiations in individual airlines, other than offering trained negotiators and the legal backup that the Company Council may require.
The Company Council are the team that negotiate with management if you have a Recognition Agreement. The Company Council is made up of elected members who all serve as line pilots within said airline.
If they don't have much support then they cannot negotiate very effectively and hence the misconception that "Balpa" are toothless. Your previous experiences may have been of a toothless CC, BUT, did you and your colleagues give them the mandate they need to be effective? If not then it is no surprise when they come back with a recommendation to accept some derisory company offer; they can't advise you to reject an offer if you don't give them the mandate to go back to the table to negotiate a better offer. They MUST have the "big stick" held in reserve to be effective. If they were completely ineffective, then perhaps you could have voted them out or perhaps even stood for election yourself?
The so called "decent" airlines have better terms and conditions through a strong membership of Balpa (as has been said, no other union has represented a pilot body in the UK with any effect). This gives the mandate to the CC to negotiate the best deal possible. Balpa is "you", not some caged tiger that gets wheeled out when a few of you get unhappy about conditions. Background Balpa offers the support to CCs and individual pilots by way of Financial and Legal services etc.
As for joining with cabin crew, again I have to agree that you are putting yourselves at a disadvantage. Management will always be looking to give something only in return for something. I can see the pilots in Jet2 constantly being under pressure to 'give' in order for cabin crew to 'receive'. One will be played off against the other. Much better for both to be represented separately and negotiate individually for better conditions.
As for "giving yourself a 1% paycut" by joining Balpa, that has to be the most short-sighted view possible. If you join and get nothing (and incidently, it's NOT 1% for new joiners for the first few years) then sure it has cost you. BUT, if you join in sufficient numbers, give your CC a negotiating mandate and they negotiate ANYTHING more than (maximum membership fee) 1% better on your Sector Pay and basic salary then by my book you are better off. You get nowt for nowt in this world, so invest in your futures.
I work in the same sector where we have 90% membership of Balpa. Over the years our CC have consistently negotiated pay rises which more than cover the membership fee, plus many other lifestyle enhancing deals. "Balpa" are only as strong as the collective group....Easyjet pilots are realising this and have mobilised in significant numbers and now have given their CC the mandate to go back to the negotiating table and ask for more....
Good luck to you all in Jet2, the issues affect all our industry terms and conditions, not just yours.
PP