Public opinion is very important. In '89 the ability of Hawke, Abeles etc to portray the domestic pilots as greedy and overpaid, allowed them to use the tactics they employed and get away with it. Joe Public, whilst perhaps uneasy about some of the tactics used, went along with it because the pilots were "getting theirs!"
That may be a little more difficult to do in this case, as there is no 29% pay claim being put forward, merely a CPI increase for appropriate offsets. Considering that there is no official dispute yet, one can only wonder why Dixon has come out punching so early?