Dreamshiner,
The EU thing I do agree with. Unrestricted working rights within the EU hurt the British the most. They hurt us really bad because we cannot compete with most Spaniards, French, German, Dutch, Nordic and Eastern European people when it comes to multilingual skills.
The problem is worse for pilots because of the very nature of aviation and the installation of English as the standard language. Every EU pilot speaks English! European pilots have an amazing advantage. They really can work anywhere in Europe.
We have been failed by our educational institutions who make it a tiny option to learn other languages. Back when I was in school, our roster allocated 1-2 hours of French per week! We got useless subjects like History and Humanities (combined 4-6 hours) which give us no advantage in the modern world.
On one hand European airlines are required to hire anyone from the EU, on the other hand they stipulate fluent [Local Language]. This effectively guarantees that pilot jobs will only go to local people. It takes a very long time to be fluent in a language that you start learning properly at 21 I can tell you that. The whole thing when applied to Pilot jobs makes a charade of ‘Unrestricted EU Working Rights’
This is not a dig at European pilots. I'm just saying it like it is for the British. Tough. Very tough.
You mention BALPA. BALPA has only ever achieved anything for ‘on the line’ pilots. That’s pilots with a job. The CAA exist to make the industry better (and they do a crap job at it). Neither of these do bugger all to protect the overall industry. Neither oversees recruitment and hiring practices. This allows airlines and TRTOs (mostly one man bands belonging to airline recruitment personnel) to run the entire show, stipulating whatever fancy requirements they have netting them tidy personal profits in the process. It’s all very sickening.