Terms and conditions are going to get worse as it is a case of supply and demand.
Problem is even though some airlines have had better terms then say others all bets are now off (only have to look at the BA thread about the zero hour contract).
I got into aviation just as Ryanair started to get big. I believe what they had on offer was an over priced type rating, be based anywhere on the Ryanair network and be employed by a third party who may or may man not give you work. With these fantastic terms people jumped at it. I think not shortly afterwards Easyjet came up with their own scheme which I think was even worse, and people still jumped at it as they were desperate to get their hand on a shiny jet.
It has now come full circle with BA now having this zero hour contract looming over their heads. I don't think BA will personally be on zero hour contracts, but there are people who would jump on it to further their career at the expense of others.
I feel terms and conditions are going to get worse but I belive one way to get these terms increased in the future is to decrease the supply. One way to do this is to increase the required hours to say fly a medium size jet eg 737 and anything bigger to say 1500hrs.