It is most definately a matter for the union.
They are there to protect their members interests and jobs. You reduce your cabin crew per flight by 20%, then thats 20% of your members being fired a few days before Christmas.
There are other issues too - one that has come up before is that they operate with a reduced crew, but expecting them to do the same cabin service, something that is usually not possible. There are safety issues surrounding that - and I can imagine the cries from the management when they refuse to do the inflight service because they don't have enough people to safely work the carts/galley.
How about aircraft pre-flight expectations? Reduce the numbers but expect the pre-boarding safety procedures to be done in the same time? Or will they pay the crew for the extra time they need to be working to get the aircraft away on time? I think you know the answer to that one.
I'm not saying that the aircraft can't be safely operated, in a minimum way, by the legal minimum of crew. But to say that the union shouldn't have a vested interest in the working conditions of its members is silly.
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