OK Otty, I agree on the pensionable aspects, but the IFCE budget is exactly that, a budget. A union could, quite acceptably, negotiate on behalf of ALL it's members a fairer, more stable method of distribution of the wealth that is afforded IFCE out of the big BA purse. If you don't even bother to negotiate (ask), you damn well don't get.
..and here is the nub of the problem. I believe that the current BA/BASSA debacle is fuelled, in the main, by a group of BASSA reps who, collectively, do not have the accumen/business nous to effectively NEGOTIATE.
Actually, pay negotiation is rocket science, it needs fundamental undestanding by the designers, or else the whole kit and caboodle blows up at about Mach 4/30 000ft.
Nurj