Is there an official union view on this?
Has BALPA/IALPA etc offered any guidance or reccomendations on self sponsored type ratings?
Personally I think that type ratings are a justifiable training cost that the airlines should absorb, not the pilots.
If we all got our act together and refused to pay then the airlines wouldn't have a choice. This of course will never happen, there will always be someone desperate enough to work for free/pay for a type rating etc.
Is there any real solution?