Midnight the reality is that the howard goverment is doing its best to neuter the union movement in the country by severly restricting the ways that they can operate.
Every day the unions are able to act on behalf of their members and enforce agreements and stop the company acting unilaterally.
For example reaching a compromise on the FRA allowance issue. Without the unions not just FAAA there would be nowhere at all to turn.
I am reliably informed that there are currently 6 crew held out of service facing termination for various infractions. without the FAAA defending its members the company would turn that into 50 in the blink of an eye.
Without someone standing up even in a reduced capacity because of the law and the environment then I am afraid there would be nothing stopping Qantas Management.