Just to point out to 185lbs the membership to BALPA for new joiners has a 50% reduction in year one and 25% reduction in year two. So its not 1% of your gross salary, it is only 0.5% year 1 and 0.75% year two of gross salary.
...of which a large chunk is off-settable against tax anyway.
I used to have a similar attitude to BALPA membership as 185lbs.
Since the introduction of the tax offset and BALPA's seccessful negotiation of FREA's, I don't think you can really use that as a good reason not to join.
I also didn't think we had a good company council a few years ago, and so I thought my money would have been wasted. That again is not an argument anymore as we now have an extremely knowledgable and robust council who certainly mean business. (The sooner management realise this, the better IMHO!)
It is for those reasons I joined, and also why membership figures have continued to climb to what is probably an all time high.
185lbs of ballast - You are your own person who is more than capable of making your own judgments and choices and not someone I suspect that would take much notice of some of the rather silly comments that have come your way here by one or two people.
All I would say to you is this:
What is about to develop over the next few weeks is as relevant to you (as a non-member of BALPA) as it is to me (as a member of BALPA).
I understand and somewhat agree with your thoughts regarding you signing a contract of work and the feelings you have regarding strike action which you feel is breaking the t&c's of that contract. I would put this to you though... Do you not think that this loyalty and commitment should also be returned to you by the management? As you may or may not have understood, it is that very contract you signed under good faith that the COMPANY are now trying renege on...!
Do you think the Company shares your same guilt about changing the terms of that contract? I'm sure you know the answer to that!
Personally, I prefer to throw my support behind my CC and colleagues and have a say as to what happens, instead of merely sitting on the side lines. That support, if you chose to lend it, would cost you less than an outbound sector to Tenerife in allowances a month! Besides, if you felt in 12months time that you still were unhappy, you would have helped the cause in a particularly important time for
us all, and you can resign from BALPA at any point.
Just trying to add a bit of balance here....
...the choice of course is yours.
Best rgds
TM&S