How do I love thee, let me count the ways.....
 

What does BLAPA actually do?

Well, lets see. They spend £2,500,000 of members funds waging a failed a futile campaign to bring "dignity and respect" to Ryanair pilots who've plainly found an adequate supply of those commodities elsewhere. They goad, threaten and cajole those that stand in their way. They maintain a final salary pension scheme for their own employees when even the Golden Balls of Hounslow no longer have one. They trouser membership fees with the ferocious sucking sound of a thousand atmospheres whilst coming to the aid of a precious few in any meaningful way. Oh, and in recent days, they've assisted those of a saggy, broader beam at their master's BA, to redeploy squillions in pension fund assets to safer harbours, like rats off a sinking ship.

Their structure is decentralised and inherently weak, blame for failure is passed to the individual pilots of each company's CC, they have no industrial teeth, they are unaccountable, they have a string of ignominious failures that serve to highlight their true colours and prime directive in respect of BA that we're encouraged to ignore and yes, they're broke. Where do I sign? Good money after bad anyone?

One of the things they have done really well recently is fight a really good campaign against HM Government's ID Cards scheme. It was very well thought through - and successful.

That certainly helps all the uk pilots. :hmm:

Do you honestly think that BALPA changed government policy and stopped ID cards, or the fact that the government couldnt spend 10 billion of your UK Tax pounds on a project that the majority was opposed to and was turning into a PR millstone for New Labour?

The NHS National Programme for IT, which previously billed as 'essential' is set to be binned as it is now considered 'non-essential' after the taxpayer has forked out 4 billion of your UK Tax pounds with cancellation defaults to the tune of 600 million of your UK Tax Pounds.

Yes BALPA fought an expensive fight, but did they win it ?

Was that money well spent on protecting British Ailine Pilots' T&C's ? No matter what BALPA or it's members view on the subject was the governement would have pushed it through if they could have afforded it.

Do you honestly think that BALPA representing UK Pilots stopped a key point of political policy intended to cover the nation ?

The government put the country into armed conflict in an overseas territory and committed its armed forced on B/S PR. ID cards... pfft !

Also, the ID card scheme maybe out of the public eye, but it's not dead. have a read here No2ID .....

oh come off it.

Pilots pay a percentage of their salary for BALPA to represent their *best* interests..

BALPA are PAID by their MEMBERS for REPRESENTATION of their MEMBERS. End of.

They certainly aren't perfect. Pretty long way off actually.

BUT even if they'd done nothing to improve terms and conditions at my airline (which they have), the fact certain scumbag bullying thugs despise them means they must be doing something right.

My enemy's enemy is my friend.

six sixty,

A policy of 'My enemy's enemy is my friend' is a policy that routinely fails in the long term.

Possibly, but it's expeditious in the short term, and if the spivs have it all their own way there won't be a "long term" to worry about.

Rather like the well paid rats at BA adopting the "I'm all right Jack" stance and removing their contributions from the pension fund; with the help of BALPA of course.

TRSS,

Pot, Kettle and Black I would suggest!

At least the BA guys are merely looking after the funds that they have already earned.

You (and Leo and Bruce) take the "I'm alright Jack" approach with your current colleagues! What effort have you ever made to look after the interests of pilots who suffer such bad terms at your employer?

Now now, calm down. I am fully au fait with the ID Cards / database state fiasco. All I was saying that, instead of rolling over like a wet blanket, they took issue with the whole thing. Every little helps.

Nightsoil,

Do grow up dear boy.

The Ts and Cs at FR are light years better than at easy: our cadets get paid during line training, get a pay rise after FLC, have a secure job, that doesn't involve being a flight attendant, and have the prospect of a command in 4 to 5 years.

As Leo has pointed out, repeatedly, the cadets are trousering some serious coin with FR once they are out of training!

TRSS,

As ever your aggressive response does suggest you have anger or frustration issues. Maybe it stems from all the time you spend on here pontificating to all and sundry!

Why I should be interested in easyjets terms and conditions I am at a loss to fathom. As a neutral bystander in your d.ck swinging competition I would just say that if Ryanairs t's and c's were so good they would be a lot more transparent about them than they are. Comment's about how your boys "trouser some serious coin" sounds great. The trouble is all of that "coin" gets spent on things that the rest of us get provided by our decent employers.

Nightsoil, would those really great employers be the likes of Thomson, easy, bmi or baby?

Being rude and aggressive again TRSS? You really do have some issues there don't you.

The answer is no to all of those suggestions.

Rude and aggressive?

Me?

On the contrary, I find it astonishing that so many allegedly intelligent individuals can still commit themselves to the Ponzi scheme that is BALPA.

I fail to to understand, although my experience as a pilot manager does give me a certain insight to the average pilot's MO, why so many supplicants pay their dues to keep the hierarchy in clover; surely the whole point of a Union is equality?

Not in BALPA: senior BA people removing their pension contribtions hardly helps the pension funds credibility. Thomson and easy captains looking after themselves at the expense of the FOs......not my assertion but stated here quite clearly...is that your "Union".

Methinks you can keep it.

You just dont get it do you slim, you and leo are why most of pay our dues to Balpa.

We do get it :ok:

Which is why we will have nothing to do with the 40 Thieves.

Give your 1% to the peeps at GSM: do some good.

I Have got a better idea you and leo,go and find proper job and save me 50 quid a month.

50 a month wouldn't keep Leo in red wine.

You keep hoping po'boy :-)

TRSS and Leo, it is such a shame that your selfless championing of poor individual pilots, molested by the wicked union, often goes unrecognized or misunderstood. Too bad our contemporaries don't readily appreciate your kind of people the way Ancient Greeks did.