I fully agree with your view here. "Poor pay does not cause accidents; it is the lack of professionalism, incompetency, etc etc" which causes accidents.
Often in debate, we present exaggeratedly opposite responses to the other's increasingly belligerent position, until we are both shouting red faced across an increasingly widening divide.
Similarly, perhaps in an effort to avoid the aforementioned, and achieve the common ground identification essential not only for continued debate, but for also working toward a solution of some kind, we give up some ground (perhaps ground not worth fighting over)
However.
In this case, I feel the salary issue is waived too easily and too soon.
We have duty hours limitations: why??
Because we dont think it is safe for a pilot (or a truck driver) to be running 12 hours out of a day, or 60 hours out of a week or some such.
Are we naive enough to think that by keeping them out of the LEFT HAND SEAT (either truck cab or cockpit) but not out of the greeter's Aisle at WALMART where he she is forced to augment their income satisfies our commitments to safety?
And it's not so much pilots, but the incremental "swiss cheese" mechanics and ground crew down the line, ( swiss cheese because they are all handlers of the lattice work 'swiss cheese' of failure /success that when properly holes aligned, the 'mouse of disaster'* slips through)
* I apologize for any metaphors mangled in this post.