X,
I quite agree with you. It never ceased to amaze me when the operator would remind you the pay was "tax free" as if that was a part of the Terms and Conditions and should be considered a benefit given by the company. My response was the "tax free" business (meaning no tax at domicile for overseas earnings) was my benefit which I earned by being willing to work away from home.
It also filled me with warm loving feelings when travel plans never considered the impact upon the one traveling and only looked to established methods of ticket buying that benefited some thieving manager. So many times I showed a method of buying cheaper tickets and using shorter travel times to be told that was impossible. I delighted in flying to Dallas from the East Coast to start my journey to Lagos....I guess British knowledge of geography equals that of the average American.
A global association of pilots would be interesting....if for no other reason being able to keep up on current hiring needs and such.