Standing up for yourself would have been finding a job that matched what you wanted, not forcing those around you to provide what you can't find elsewhere.
Interesting. I had a job that, for many, many years exactly matched what I wanted in a flying career. I worked with great crews, serviced wonderful owners, and generally did whatever it took to get the job done. That environment was right here at Flight Options.
Then neo-management arrived with their neo-ideas. In their zeal to shrink us to profitability, they decide we could afford to lose owners. By their actions, it became obvious that customer service and job satisfaction among the employees (especially in the pilot ranks) was no longer important. Here's a synopsis of the neo-management attitude as it related to the flight department: "Fly the airplanes when and how we say to; Dont' question ridiculous, costly reposition legs; Eat the same food day in and day out, whenever (or if) we can get it to you; Don't question repeated 'Could not Ground Duplicate' or 'No Faulf Found' maintenance signoffs or multiple MEL's; Failure to comply with our mandates will result in 'productivity meetings' and possibly termination". It has been classic management by intimidation, then club the pilots into submission. Simultaneously, they were pi$$ing away good owner after good owner because neo-management deemed customer service was no longer important to our survival (ask former owners about dealing with Owners Services). "Metrics" of some kind were what became most important. "Make the numbers work". Great plan they had, that neo-management. They succeeded in destroying established business, trust among the employees, and the job that "matched what I wanted" (to use your words).
I've survived neo-management's efforts to destroy the company. We're seeing new (old) management return with a true forward looking vision to again grow Flight Options. Immediately, we're again becoming a customer service-centric organization. Not so coincidently, improving employee (specifically pilot) relations is paramount to our new management team. Thus far improvements have been made without a contract. Perhaps the 70 who were RIF'd were used by management as negotiating fodder. We'll soon know more details. The fact remains, they've all been called back because our union leadership demonstrated how wrong it was to RIF pilots in the manner they did.
Welcome back, 70. There are a few more to follow.
Management by Trust, as Mr. Ricci likes to say. I say Trust, but Verify. A CBA will set a standard and framework that this (or future) management will have to work within. Don't lose sight of this fact: The CBA being currently negotiated was brought on because neo-management breeched the trust of the pilots. As the trust is again built between the parties, the CBA will be the instrument used to hold both parties accountable.
So because of an organizing effort you would have bailed from here long ago, B19. That's fine. Many have. Many have remained (such as myself) not because we couldn't make it elsewhere but because we believed deep down that the ideals that made this a great place to work in the past would eventually return - or the doors would close. The union isn't responsible for providing a vision to the future that we've been lacking for several years. But it will take a cooperative team effort between managment and all the employees for this vision to be realized. The new (old) management understands and, I believe, embraces this fact. The pilots will partner with managment to help achieve those goals, and will do so with a CBA that both parties can live with.
Now if they give you guys the professional compensation and fair work rules you deserve (by merit) things will surely turn around. 
