Maui, having had the opportunity to discuss the reasons behind QF drivers leaving AFAP and becoming AIPA with some of those intimately involved in it, my assessment is that you're telling just a very tiny part of the story.
Perhaps a larger part of the story is that the domestic pilots at the time (Ansett, TAA, Ipec) had the numbers in AFAP. The net result was sacrificing many long haul issues to feather their own nests in the domestic arena.
I'm very proud to be a member of AIPA who as a group stands up for QF group pilots in the belief of furthering the profession.
Shed Dog Tosser, what the original members of Impulse and J* did to QF crew is water under the bridge now. At the time many QF drivers begged for unity and yes, some IPC/ J* crew laughed in our faces. I've got no doubt that some of those guys would do the same again. That said, the overwhelming majority of J* crew joined after these times. In that respect, once they've joined, both they and the current QF pilots would be nuts if they didn't see that our futures are aligned and that we've got more in common than what separates us.
At the end of the day, Joe is a fellow pilot. His comments were spot on. He's been shafted and I'm going to support him.