Agreed.
In the UK certainly it's the directors' job to maximise profit and Restraint of Trade regs makes it just about impossible for the likes of BALPA to interfere with a company who is legally trading with private individuals.
BA BALPA found out to it's cost (literally) what happens if you try and get between a company and a third party.
That said I didn't like the fact BALPA took advertising from the FTOs in "The Log", and I think they were guilty of painting a rose tinted picture for far too long....but beyond that I'm not sure what magic wand they were meant to wave to "solve" the ills of P2F, etc.