pilothouse - Your position at Jet2 is very difficult in that you have the worst terms and conditions of any jet company in the UK. The tragedy is that many staff at Jet2 are just not aware quite how bad it is compared to other companies using just about any criteria you could care to mention. The situation that exists is essentially similar to that of the northern mill owner of past centuries - a benevolent dictator exercises absolute control over a compliant workforce who are too frightened to overtly question their lot in life. If they do not rock the boat then the status quo continues and the benevolent dictator looks down graciously and approvingly from his mansion house. If, however, poor Oliver asks for more, then the owner of the poorhouse burns with righteous indignation and Oliver is cast out into the hard world outside. What Oliver has yet to find out is that there is a whole new world outside that is infinitely better than the 'security' offered by the northern mill owner. Who then will be best placed to change the established norms within your company?
In a past life unrelated to aviation I was a member of the TGWU. There is no doubt that among them are some great people and they do a great job representing our cabin crew, for example, here at easyJet. The reality is that they are the wrong people to represent the pilots because their experience base is primarily among 'unskilled' and 'semi-skilled' labour market. That is not to knock the cabin crew, who are great people, but they are nonetheless 'unskilled' labour in terms of the industrial definition. BALPA, however, has a long history of representing professional pilots and despite some well-publicised failures, they have overall been magnificent. The TGWU simply do not know enough about the world of the professional pilot to be able to represent them correctly.
If you want to make the acid test it is this - who gets the best deals for their members? Right now at easyJet we have 2 parallel ongoing pay disputes. The latest pay offer for the pilots negotiated on their behalf by BALPA is 10% over 2 years - 6% now backdated to last October and 4% this October. As far as I am aware that is by far the best deal negotiated by any company in the UK this year - achieved through a rapidly growing BALPA membership of just under 80% of the pilots. The TGWU, however, have just managed to shoot themselves in the foot again by announcing that industrial action is imminent before they have bothered balloting the cabin crew! PM would run rings round them and you will do yourselves no favour in having them represent you. I realise that many people are sceptical of BALPA - do not write them off on some alleged past failing. When push comes to shove they will take on PM and win. You will then, slowly but surely, restored to the ranks of the better jet companies. Best of luck.