From what I've heard, it's not that things are necessarily dire at NAS, it's that they could be better and the current contract shambles combined with winter lay-offs (which the pilots themselves stepped in to alleviate by voluntarily taking reduced rosters or unpaid time off) is pushing things in the wrong direction.
I think that pilots around the world have sensed (correctly or not) that now is a good time to try and improve the standard of management that they are experiencing on a daily basis and try and prevent the entire industry sliding in the direction of the small island west of the UK...
It would appear that there is some discontent at
Emirates too...