Dear Mr Flares,
an interesting first post with many points worthy of discussion - thank you for sharing your concerns.
Firstly. let me say that the pilots have not rushed into this action. We have spent 18 months trying to resolve the situation but have finally come to an impasse because the company will not talk to us in any meaningful way.
Secondly, we are sensitive to the fact that the threat of industrial action brings uncertainty over the future and we hope the impasse with management can be resolved without recourse to strike action. However, it is not an idle gesture and management are becoming aware of our resolve.
I'm sorry that you think that the pilots as a group are not team players. From my experience I would like to think that we offered what support we could when the engineers and ground handlers at EMA were badly treated by the company. Had either of these groups decided to go to industrial action they could have relied on our understanding and support.
Companies by nature are heirarchical, there are people at the top, middle and bottom. Generally speaking pilots are neither at the very top nor at the bottom. Who you are is not defined by the job you do and everyone deserves to be treated with respect whatever their station in life. I'm sorry if your experience with pilots has been less than that.
Lastly, we could all, indeed, buzz off - in fact quite a few have done just that - but some of us prefer to stay and try to improve our situation. Some pilots have invested a good many years in bmi and would like to see a return on their investment.
As I said earlier hopefully the managers will realise our resolve in this dispute and we can resume meaningful talks to avert a strike.