It's all becoming a bit of a mess I think. I don't know who the guy that got fired is so I dont know if I know him or not. I, like most others am deeply sorry to hear that it has hapened, yet not surprised.
There are many camps within the workforce at Ryanair so I wouldn't like to put money on the outcome of the vote. I am told that the vote will be done base by base. This in its is self is not good. In my opinion this will only put those in small bases in a very dangerous position. For this reason alone, I will be surprised if any of the small bases vote for BALPA. Maybe things at STN will be different.
With regards to MrsRyan's post. Regardles of the validity of his/her claims. There are many at Ryanair that feel this way. I know a few, myself included that have worked in BALPA recognised companies before, and were happy to join Ryanair to get away from them. Having been round the block a few times I am aware of the downside of flying for Ryanair, there are however many good sides that people seem to ignore, or shout down when mentioned.
Many of the people who claim to be unhappy with working at Ryanair have not even worked anyware else, yet are happy to shout about how hard they are being done by. I personaly think the only winner from a BALPA win will be BALPA, the staff will pay heavily in the fallout. If BALPA loose the vote now, the staff will pay heavily in the fallout.
I have no great feeling either way about BALPA as I have always been happy with Ryanair since I joined. Yes, in the long term maybe BALPA recognition may be a good thing, but I wonder how many people will be happy to pay the price in the mean time.
Before you start shouting, yes I am a BAPLA member, and no, I don't know how I will vote!