jonathon
I agree completely with your first 3 paragraphs. I also agree with the sentiment of the last one but, in reality, when people become part of any management structure they risk becoming institutionalised. There are obvious exceptions (Philby, Blunt etc) but I would imagine that most people would eventually succumb to the thinking on management's side of the fence. Not only that, you have to reach at least GM level before you can influence the system.
Still, I might be wrong. I seem to recall someone telling me that one of our current GMs used to be a BALPA representative in a previous life.
STP