The answer is, of course, in the title of the thread.
You are BALPA, as is every other member. That is why it is called a "Union".
You vote for your reps, it is they who do the donkey work, not some gnome in Hayes or wherever they live this week. If reps are keen and grafters results may accrue. If not, they won't. That isn't head office's remit.
Yes, it's galling to see the spongers get rewards for free, but then it is your job, as members, to persuade them to stay and pay their way, not freeload. If reps are reluctant to call for action, it may be that membership isn't high enough to make it work, and striking under those conditions is suicide, or that the legal mandate to do so is not clear.
If it comes to a fight then head office can, and will provide advice, professional negotiators and heavy guns, but they cannot force anything that is not enshrined in law.You need to lobby your MP to change that...If employment law says LIFO is history how can anyone force it? Good reps may be able to formulate an agreement with the company to this end, but force it - no!
A great deal of the whingeing we hear about BALPA is related to unreasonable expectations of what they can achieve. They will enforce the law where they have a reasonable expectation of winning, but faced with an impossible to win fight - right or wrong - they'd be irresponsible to continue. (such as trying to extract redundancy money from a bankrupt company, or pensions from that bastard Maxwell after he'd spent them...) The Dan Air case was interesting, BALPA's evidently called the wrong shot there, as lawyers sometimes do. The law is a performing art remember, not an exact science.
I don't doubt that BALPA are grossly inefficient at head office, the junkets, perks, short hours, high salaries, index linked pensions and excessive political aspirations are anathema to most of us, but if you don't like it, refer to the title of this thread again, please.
BALPA isn't a a catch-all fluffy nest to protect us in every one of life's ****ty little deals, this is about the law, not some woolly concept of "fairness"; life is often not fair, and you cannot expect it to be so all the time, but your Union can and will help when within it's admittedly limited remit. Remember, without it; you're naked!
So stay on board, don't sponge off your oppos, and help & encourage your reps.
And remember the excellent title of this thread.
Last edited by Agaricus bisporus; 5th May 2009 at 09:54.