Thanks Neo,
I am already lobbying both my MEPs and MP and have seen my local MP who has promised to ask a parliamentary question of the Transport Minister. As you'll know from your MEP, the matter is back with Members States Transport Ministers who have a veto.
It was one of the MEPs who suggested the tack of standing against the people concerned. You are right about the lists. However when one or another party realises it may lose some few thousand votes to a pressure group and with it 1 or 2 seats, it tends to force the offender to back down or drop them from the list. Political parties do not like supporting something which is easily shown to be unsafe or stupid.
BALPA is doing a good job but has a problem: All the MEPs and the MP who I have dealt with point out that BALPA is a union so they immediately dismiss it. It will have to be us, the workforce, who will have to fight this battle individually if we are to win. Since I have not seen it in my local paper or on the news certainly we are not making enough noise. Worse still some of my non BALPA colleagues have not even heard about the problem when I raise it with them!
So what I am saying is yes lets lobby through BALPA but lets also do some work ourselves - just as BALPA has asked in the Fit To Fly Handout.