Firstly the pilots are elected by the pilot force. There was an election held and pilots put there name forward and it was voted on democratically. That was 2 years ago in STNs case. By rights its normally a one year position. However 2 years ago the a pay deal was put in front of the pilots by the Company that was truly awful. The ERC stated at the time no meaningful negotiation took place and to Vote NO. I think it was universally felt the ERC had made the right noises to vote No and so they stayed on. 1 year later and a substantially better pay deal was on the table and the ERC seemed to do ok for us but there was ground swell of opinion that BALPA/REPA were coming in and they told everyone vote NO. However BALPA/REPA have been completely anonymous since the NO vote in April. People have run out of patience. A similiar deal is back on the table this time the ERC have said go for it take the money and better time off and still go for the union route if you want but at least you have a better roster and more cash in your mits while we wait for BALPA/REPA to get its act together. If they ever do.