Work Day Off payments are an abuse of the pilot community. Just goes to show how shallow pilots are as a group are, by accepting these payments we simply allow the company to operate without truly exposing the crewing levels for what they are.
The thing that makes me laugh is that FO's will sit there complaining about the lack of Command opportunities but don't have a problem with Captains working on days off. Can you imagine how many command positions would be generated for FO's if no Captains worked on days off?
During the recent EBA negotiations I asked one of the pilot managers what their thoughts would be on removing all payments for working on days off. The initial reaction was the manager saying that the company would be ecstatic to get rid of the payment and save some money, he then asked 'why would a pilot work on a day off if they don't get a payment for it?', my answer was 'exactly!'. Suffice to say the pilot manager then changed his mind and said the company would not entertain removing the day off payment.
We bitch and moan about fatigue and rest, lack of commands, lack of crewing etc but we prop up these practices by selling our rest and days off for a few bucks.
So next time you fly with a CP on a day off, that is your command, and next time as an FO you work a day off, that is a seat a new pilot could be filling.