Capt. South, public opinion is the ONLY thing that will win you this war.
Qantas cannot hold out against a strike by pilots or engineers if there is some sympathy for you from the general public.
If on the other hand, Qantas can paint you as a bunch of greedy Prima Donnas holding traveling mums and dads and babies to ransom, then your strike will be broken in exactly the same way as 1989.
Remember the waterfront strike? Patrick Ltd made one mistake - they allowed masked security guards with attack dogs to be photographed and it made it to the front cover of every newspaper in the country. That was all it took to destroy any public sympathy for the employer.
You need to
get professional help with your
PR.
I don't know if the engineers are doing so (SP's letter to Thomas was masterly) but you need to get the message out about what hoops you have to jump through to end up in an A380 and how that can quickly end through medical problems, failed checks, etc. etc.
To put it another way; all it needs is the Murdoch press to get a photo of a Qantas Captain climbing into his Ferrari or Porsche and pasting that on front pages with a comment about earning $500, 000 per year and your EBA is toast.
Perceptions are reality.