Thanks agaricus
I think I can understand juan and lean towards the point of, unions are only as strong as their members are.
Maybe it would be a good idea for the unions ( balpa) to provide us with information on how strong they are and what is legally acceptable? For the moment I only get rumours on how powerless pilots are in the uk, but maybe that's not true?
I also am a strong believer that the unions should be an asset to a company rather than a threat... The impression I got from the union in France is that there was a lot of 2 way conversation helping the needs of both parties.