Remember, you're just a resource - something that gets used to produce something. They even quit calling us personnel, now we're just Human Resources. It's management's duty to get the most out of us. I'm not saying that in a bad way, they have to maximize the shareholder's return. The only thing pilots have going for them is the owners don't want to fly the planes (or build the cars or mine the ore.) But an individual doesn't have much else to barter with. The idea of a union is to help balance the playing field.