Dear Soopy,
in Italy we had some discussions about forming a Ops Union, but realized that can hardly work (calling strikes in major airline is a pain in the neck, in private companies could mean a serious damage, and we are much more carefull than pilots, aren't we?). What we are doing now is to form the IFALDA (Italian Flight Dispatcher Association) that already joined the EUFALDA (European Association).
Our task is to educate airline's managements and aeronautical authorities about the importance of flight dispatch. Jar-ops themselves are not considering flight dispatch very much, and our fight at present is to highlight the need to involve flight dispatch as a basic of flight safety and general airline's economy.
In the States and Japan this is well understood (flight dispatchers are co-responsible together with pilots), in Europe there's a long walk to get that goal...but we're full of shoes!
Ciao
Paolo
"Flight Dispatchers tell pilots where to go"