Thats why the man who only consults negotiates with us.
As far as i'm aware there were/are several unions who were involved in the pensions issue, although BALPA did lead it.
That is why the pension lump sum went from £500M to £800M and the annual payments went from £250M to £280M.
They went up because that is what he was willing to pay. It's negotiation. The company start off with a figure which they in their wildest dreams know they will not get anyone to agree with, and they wait to see the reaction. The compromise is somewhere in between. Yes it did help that BALPA researched well and obtained expert opinions, but that is not what I am getting at.
because he knows the pilots are the only group that have the balls, commitment and financial resources to deliver a prolonged and crippling strike to BA.
I'm sorry to say I disagree.
1) Commitment - BARP for new pilots when they first joined: Did the majority of members care to think how divisive it could be in lets say 10 years? In my view a very naive and short term outlook by many members.
2) Financial resources - Massive mortgages (cost of living): How many pilots have huge repayments and have a relatively high cost of living compared to other groups in the company?
Unfortunately as a group, pilots will be non confrontational, have loyality to the company because of the time and money invested in it, and paradoxically this will be our greatest weakness.