Ask not what your union can do for you... discuss.
Years ago, when I became an airline captain in the UK I elected to join Balpa.
Every month I paid my membership, although the company I worked for had no union recognition.
I then joined a larger airline, and when union recognition was achieved, saw balpa negotiate terms and conditions improvements. And I saw those benefits be handed out to both members and non members alike.
As my career progressed I flew larger aircraft and eventually became a captain on a reasonably sized jet aircraft in a company which was a subsidiary of a major british airline. The contract I was given when I joined, which I read very carefully, enshrined some benefits and terms, one being that any possible redundancies would be on the principle of first in last out.
And then one day that company decided to make redundancies. It's HR department disregarded the contract, and elected to make those redundancies just from one base. As a result many pilots below me on the seniority list at other bases retained their jobs, and even at the same base junior F/Os kept their jobs whilst captains above them on the seniority list lost theirs.
The two major players in the company council, who were senior captains at a base which had not been threatened by job losses, appeared disinclined to discuss industrial action (a unions only real bargaining tool), or even giving up their own pay rise to try to off set redundancies. The attitude of them and also the general secretary of the union was that "if this happened, it could be a test case after the event".
Since that happened, none of those who were made redundant have been contacted by the union, there was nothing pro-active from Balpa regarding any form of representation, and I understand (because althought as a member now forced by their inaction to work abroad I should have received the latest copy of "the log" I have not), that they now recommend that you should not consider any form of tribunial in such situations (despite their assurances that we would be supported).
However, the full time union representatives and staff still work from plush offices and benefit from final salary pension schemes, paid for by members dues.
The title of the thread is obviously a paraphrase of a far more elequent (if indeed that is spelt correctly) and greater man than I, but I would be interested to hear other views. To my mind most people join Balpa for the supposed legal protection, which in this case they have seen fit not to provide. So why give two percent of your salary to them when you could just give a tenner per month to the IPA?...
I may be wrong, and I may be outnumbered, but would like to hear your views.
And if tribunial is mispelled, or even mispelt, I apologise, but have no interest in the pprune spelling police.