Absolutely HotDog...you are very astute.
At about the same time, I was approached by an SQ 747 Captain and asked about airline unions in the USA. I suggested that writing to (and provided the adderss for) ALPA in Washington DC would be a good start...don't know if he did or not, but several years later SQ lost a decision in the Singapore Supreme Court regarding pilot unfair dismissals (pilot duty times and their proper application)...so it may have had some benefit.
This was long before the "invasion" by the folks from Oz....