RSS - when I boil down your argument I conclude your worries (or at least your arguments) come down to fear - the bullying and hectoring attitude of your employer has got to you.
Carriers are retrenching and some have collapsed. This is a normal part of business. Don't blame the unions, blame the management. Poor management is always the root cause of problems. Poor management doesn't manage it's yield correctly, becomes too reliant on one part of it's customer base, over expands in the good times without considering what will happen in the downturn, ill-judges it's fuel hedging policy, or due to management vanity and machismo undertakes an ill-considered and expensive attempt to take over a rival. Ryanair management is in my view guilty of the last one, probably guilty of the second from last and time will tell if it's guilty of the one before.
The username by the way. I take my username from a small village in North Yorks which I have connection with. You are on Officer on an aircraft (I can't assert your rank), is a violent, drug taking American rap star really appropriate?
Good luck to all in Ryanair. Backbone and a steady nerve is required at this time. The rewards will follow in the years to come.