V2:
You are informed of a serious safety issue at a regional airline. The issue is well documented and is backed up with substantial proof. The issue represents a serious risk to the safety of the public who travel on the airline. The issue involves a senior employee of the airline who is ignoring critical safety checks and suigning off works as completed when they are not.
The employee in question turns out to be a 7 year memeber of the ALAEA and is paid up union member.
So - are you saying that a union would investigate and forward allegations against a union member with the same enthusiasm as a non union memeber , or a management figure who has clashed with the union, or any union, over IR issues???? Not a chance in hell that it would go any further. It would be mothballed and the shonky engineer would be tipped off by his comrades within 5 minutes.
Wasn't that exactly what happened to the Sunnies engineers V2? They grounded aircraft over serious unresolved security issues. The company response was to stand them down.
Furthermore, you have failed to address the very real "double bind" problem - where the "official" corporate culture is allegedly safety oriented, but the actual corporate culture is to ignore the regulations. This leaves a pilot or LAME in a terrible situation which is all too common.