IMO pilot T&C's will never improve in this country until the pilot group can get one united union. The fragmentation of the present arrangement plays right into the hands of management. At my previous carrier we had pilots who were either members of VIPA, AFAP or TWU. Game, set and match to management!
Just look at the T&C's of any job the CFMEU have their paws on. People with a much smaller skill set then pilots often getting paid significantly more. My favourite is the unskilled labourer on the Tullamarine Freeway widening project who can pull 150K pa!
Management will exhaust all other options to deal with this 'pilot shortage' before increasing T&C's or the even more unlikely notion of 'respect' gets on their agenda. Think 457 Visa's, indefinitely stalling CAO 48.1 etc etc....