Hitting them helps
Many years ago a Major Airline decided to unilaterally change the T's & C's of the pilot body.
The pilot body had a weak union at the time and after some negotiations, the pilots were sent on their merry way and told to do their job and stop complaining. The majority of the pilots took it upon themselves to make a stand and decided to begin an "unofficial protest". All flights for a month flew full letdowns (this was a while back - not like todays controlled airspace), did not ask for shorter routings and did not make any effort to rush the operation along. On time departures dropped, the fuel bill rocketed and schedules were disrupted as Captains refused to use "Captains Discretion".
After that one month of action, the Airline management backed down and re-instated the original T's & C's. From that day on, the pilots held the power and subsequently have grown into a powerful force in the airline. It is now one of the best paid airlines in the world with fair yet productive work schedules.
Each airline is different but the point I am trying to make is this :
The power lies with the Captains (I am not one so not trying to degrade the importance of the F/O) - they control the efficiency of the entire airline operation and with their effort, you could start to chip away at the block and start making a difference.