I completely agree that we need BALPA, but I do not understand what everyone seems to be afraid of? What can management do to us if we all sign up and get union representation? Fire us? No, because we'll have BALPA on our side and then they won't have anyone to fly their planes and they'll go bust in about a week. Make life difficult for us in some way? Probably nothing more than they already do from day to day, so let's just get it sorted for once.
BALPA would be good for us (Pilots) and for the company and if management can't see that then tough. We want the company to do well so we get paid so we are not going to scr*w the thing up by demanding unreasonable terms and conditions, but merely Ts&Cs that we deserve and that are not degraded every year.
Imagine if we get a stable roster, annual increments to reward us for our loyalty, medical insurance, etc, etc... It might actually become a CAREER airline rather than an airline that is fun to work at for a few years and then you move on.
I am very grateful for everything the Crew Council do and the time they giver up to do it, but they have no power to action anything and it only seems like Management will action what they want.
I think we all know and trust the guys on the Crew Council and they have all our email addresses, so perhaps the best thing they could do is to contact everyone find out who is already in BALPA and who is willing to join up and start a real drive to get us some representation?