OK, quite a few bits to cover so here goes, I'll deal with them in reverse order as its easier for me scrolling down and back up.
Airbus Girl - Quite a few good points you make, certainly something that I hope will be a catalyst for further discussion going forward. I do agree with you that our industry is very "self" orientated. Militancy among unions in the UK (ruling out the RMT and Post Office) has generally been left in the 70's and 80's.
Captplaystation - nobody complained or insinuated bias, JB007 posted based on his personal experiences and perception, WWW posted a statement that is incorrect alongside his personal opinions. Some new to PPRuNe may give comments posted by a moderator more credence than others.
al446 - I don't think I can close a thread, however if I did I wouldn't for the following reasons:
While I agree that it would be better all round if this poll was watertight, I would point you to review the point I made about error factor in post #68. Can any straw poll ever be? I feel I have placed enough disclaimers and warnings to anyone reading this.
If I placed a disclaimer then every thread would need one to advise that posters may not be who they claim to be or have a specific agenda.
The poll went live on the 18th of Feb, plenty of posts of all views were made before then. I asked if it was possible to switch to a vote thread to make it easier for all to vote as I felt those who had a negative perception of BALPA were more likely to comment than those who had a positive view (human nature is 1:20). By making it more inclusive I hoped to get a true view as I assumed and found there is a good percentage who are generally happy with BALPA's performance. Catch 22, Damned if I do, damned if I don't.
I brought the potential to alter the vote to light and posted it publicly. Counter productive and leaves this thread open to assault, however upfront and furnishing anyone reading this with full facts to allow them to make a measured approach to its findings. I point you to a comment made by ezydriver on the Easyjet thread.
"if people were to look at this unscientific poll and pick it to pieces without even thinking about its results then to me it is clear their heads are in the sand".
I trust in my peers that they will evaluate all points of view and findings before formulating a position or view.
Anyone lacking moral fibre to influence this vote would have to be pretty committed and tend to post at the extremes. I would suggest that the not impressed/not alternative and content voters would be pretty accurate.
Also throughout the poll, the percentage breakdown has remained roughly the same (except first day while it balanced itself and enough votes were cast).
I think one thing to be learned is you can never keep everyone happy and nothing is perfect.
Edit: 08/03 23:00 to alter response to cps.
Last edited by Dreamshiner; 8th Mar 2010 at 22:15.