Maybe, just maybe they love the job so much that they would do anything to get it or stay in it.
Not good enough, I'm afraid. Just imagine if the same principle was to be exercised at McDonald's, or on the railways, or in the Police Force? People queuing up for jobs without pay? The various employers would be laughing - until the incumbent work forces said 'over our dead bodies!'. Such practises undermine the rights of those already in employment, and will not be accepted by any workforce - the aviation one is no different.
The practise of self-sponsoring type ratings will not be solved by pressure from those at the bottom of the system, it will only be successfully addressed by those at the top, under economic and union pressure. However, it is a reality and it will take time to eliminate it.
However, the practise of working for nothing is anathema to all paid employees in any industry, and is guaranteed to alienate them. Do it, by all means, but don't expect any friends or help on your way through aviation life. It is sh*tting on your own doorstep in the biggest possible way, and it will come to haunt you.
Please understand that I do not count paid-for line training from a TRTO as working for nothing; I see it as an extension of the SSTR problem. The business of line training people who will not work for your organisation is simply a service provided at a cost to those who feel it necessary to go this route. To an extent, it's rather like training for an Advanced Driving Licence; probably unnecessary, but desirable to some. However, the idea of charging your employees for that training is quite a different matter, and to my (and BALPA's) mind is properly the financial responsibility of the employer - as is appropriate remuneration for the labour you provide.
Scroggs
P.S.
Pups That wouldn't be an Icelandic airline by any chance, would it?