At the risk of sounding very over-simplistic and abstract, despite my realization of the need for some sort of union representation (heck, someone tell me that lawyers and doctors don't have it-it started with medieval guilds), both managements and unions must respect each other, somehow, and make some compromises in demands. And I just hope we use professional negotiators next time.
I can name some US corporate sharks whose brutal actions built up union solidarity over here.
And Glueball-a former Kiwi pilot told me that their checkride training forms did not have the small pre-printed box to "check off" pilots' windshear training. Because 1) the Check Airmen put a small checkmark OUTSIDE the pre-printed squares on the training forms, which was usd for many training events and 2) Valuejet had just crashed at very high speed (with not cargo, but fare-paying passngers!) into the Everglade Swamp, so the FAA inspector (who had no prior airline experience) apparently focused upon this most trivial, miniscule documentation flaw, used for many pilot's forms at Kiwi, and shutdown the entire airline. If this cowardly act actually occurred as was known to Kiwi pilots, the FAA was now the big, brave hero in front of the tv cameras-just as cowardly as Red China's keeping our EP-3 crew hostage. A true public servant of the American public.
After all, the FAA, in order to then show the public some decisive action after the Valuejet crash (now skulking around in the US Congress before the hot lights of the media, with its tail between its legs) due to the uncomfortable exposure of how its oversight of and documented problems at Valuejet (now Airtran) had been allegedly buried deep inside of file cabinets...
[ 10 September 2001: Message edited by: Ignition Override ]