pilothouse, I can assure you that I speak from experience. Having worked for a company that didn't have recognition but subsequently merged with one that did and eventually organised itself to one where the IPF were 'imposed' on us and had a joint representative council (just ask Silverhawk) to my current airline which has some of the best T's & C's thanks to the pilot workforce getting their act together and realising that only by having a high membership of the only union that has experience in representing pilots.
No one said it would be easy to galvanise your colleagues into agreeing to be represented by Balpa, especially considering the backgrounds of most of them and the lack of experience of many with other airlines. However, to read on here the suggestions that anyone other than Balpa would be able to do a better job or, even worse, being represented as part of the whole workforce, however utopian you may think that is, just grates and shows how easy it is for your management to have you all running around like headless chickens.
Those who are complaining about the cost of Balpa membership and arguing about, at most, a couple of quid a month difference, fail to realise that the benefits of having powerful representation more than offset that difference. You only have to see how the Ryanair pilots have faired since they had exactly the same arguments that are being bandied about in this thread a few years ago.
Even if you do manage to persuade your colleagues to get their acts together and all join the same union, preferably the only one with experience in representing pilots, you will still need to elect from amongst the membership a company council who will be prepared to fight your corner. Not an easy task in itself but knowing people like Silverhawk and others there, I'm sure they'd be prepared to make the effort and with the professional support and training they can get from Balpa itself, would eventually make a difference.
What you don't want is a fractured workforce with a few here and a few there members of different unions and you most certainly don't want to have to negotiate your terms and conditions with cabin crew and office staff as they have different aspirations. Don't forget that pilots are considered as middle management in most companies. You have put in a huge amount of effort and money to get your licence and to remain current. You are expected to take responsibility for hundreds of lives and millions of pounds of equipment every day. That responsibility is not given to just anyone and unless you realise that, putting yourself forward as part of the wider company employee group which includes less skilled, trained and most importantly - checked individuals just demeans your status. Unless... you want to accept that the lowest common denominator will prevail in any discussions you get with your management.
Get your priorities right. Work towards getting the majority of your fellow pilots to join the only union that can represent you in your specialised area. Stop harping on about the cost. As has been pointed out it is less than many think and even then it is more than offset once you get recognition and a decent deal.
Whilst I may be preaching to deaf ears, you only have to see what is happening at easyJet. They have been continually shafted over the years as they were unable to get themselves organised using precisely the same arguments that you see in this thread. The same happened at Virgin. It was only after continuous shafting of a divided workforce that the light was seen and the pilots finally got their act together. A large majority joined the only union that has experience representing pilots and finally elected a company council, who, with the backing of trained Balpa negotiators, were able to negotiate a decent settlement and acceptable T's & C's.
If you can't see how it works or you can't persuade your colleagues how it works then you will just be exactly where you are today, divided and undervalued. If it takes 10 years then that's how long it takes but at least you've got modern communications and the internet to get your message across so use it and start convincing the waiverers.