Unfortunately the "lockout" tactic used by Companies involved in industrial disputes usually results in the union coming off second best. If management doesn't need/want to talk to the union then there is not much the union can do about it.
I witnessed the same tactics in the '89 Pilot's Dispute in Australia. The on going pleading by Brian Mac. about "all we want to do is talk to the Companies". Abeles and Co. just went about their business of "re-building" the airlines using all available resources. This included hiring foreign labour, local GA and former employees. A sad day for aviation in Australia but at the end of the day the Company got it's way and the Federation of Air Pilots was crushed as an effective union.
The situation in Hong Kong and Cathay Pacific is, IMHO, headed the same way. You have a management who refuses to talk to it's employees and a union that has no effective way of countering that situation. The recruitment ban is futile and no more than nuisance value to Cathay. They appear to be still getting pilots and will continue to do so as more people join up. As with the '89 dispute, the new hires are not welcomed into the union, therefore further weakening it's (HKAOA) industrial position.
Having been there and done that, I know what you guys are going through and am sorry I can't offer a solution. Having gone over (and over and over and over) what happened to us in '89 and still can't come up with "where we went wrong", I can only wish you all the very best of luck.