I have never understood this discussion about hierarchy on the airplane...
A purser with 30 years seniority in Swissair once bitched at me until I had no choice but to take his point: that he was goddamned if he was ever going to listen to a single uttering I, a lousy 2-stripe copilot might bring forth, and I was lucky to get the occasional plate of food without spit in it....
My reply was to him, which I use on occasion to brief a new cabin crew, was something like:
"I would not dream of telling a great professional like yourself how to run your cabin, or deal with your pax and colleagues. Should, however, a situation come up which I deem to be abnormal or even serious, and I tell you to do something with an unmistakeable voice of command, then you either do it immediately and without hesitation, or I will bludgeon you with the nearest suitable piece of loose equipment and deal with the next cabin staff down the line, Capisce?"
Never got any argument or backtalk to that somehow...