AO....I agree with your post to a large extent. Having been a rep for 35 years I can say that both companies and members get the reps they deserve. It is true that the TU top table are little interested in members or disputes. This is one of the main reasons that I never involved anyone beyond the relevant FTO. Fortunately they were usually too busy to bother with the politics and stuck to the issues at hand. Any dealings with national officers were kept to facilitate meetings with government departments.
I would have considered it a major failure to have some national officer take over. To be a good rep, I believe, you have to have lost your fair share of battles to have any perspective in your negotiations at any level. BASSA were handed victory on a plate for decades and seem to have lost the ability to keep up with everyone else.
this should have resulted in a negotiated settlement long ago. I don't think BA have put enough effort into convincing those who vote Yes to IA. Whatever the outcome I think it will affect BA and it's employees for a long time to come..