It seems as if Norman is viewing the glass as half full which is always a commendable approach to take. However I get the feeling from other posts from easyJet crew that they are certainly viewing the glass as being half empty.
I feel that Doug made a nice concise post. He mentioned that respect has to be earned which is very true but I fail to see what the incentive is for management in any low cost airline to treat their crew with respect. The aspects of loyalty, job satisfaction and dedication seem to hold little interest with management nowadays. An old acquaintance of mine who gladly accepted a LHS on inferior Ts and Cs and the CTC Flexicrew 'farce' are great examples.
Is this potential threat of industrial action the first of more to come? As an outsider, it seems that this initial erosion of Ts and Cs is perhaps just the 'tip of the iceberg'.