Interested to hear experiences from various people from different airlines on this issue. In the US some unions have it written in stone,as a union rep you can not go into management! No in the uk though.
There are instances where there may/has been a conflict of interest in the past,a balpa rep has entered management. There seems to be nothing to stop it happening,indeed the 'platform' a rep has 'highlights' their qualities and makes them more marketable in some instances. If this loophole exists,does it serve the members' best interests? Who is to say that all the reps have chosen to be 'only reps' and serve the pilot community,with no intentions of climbing the ladder into management
Agreed most will have no intention,but there are always a few,and potentially it can be very damaging to any pilot workforce.