Pay and Conditions
Oh dear - we've been rumbled.
The pay and conditions are to do, I think, with the fact the the general public (and Airline Companies) have realised that pilots/aircrew are not above the average as workers or human beings. Flying is a job and needs a skill to perform that job. This applies to most other jobs. The skill requires a certain aptitude. This applies to most other jobs. Not everyone has the aptitude and cannot be trained to be a pilot. This applies to most other jobs. I think that we have to recognise that the days of the big salaries/long layovers/relaxed working life are over. This also applies to most other jobs.
I have the advantage of being at the end of a 43 year flying career; military and civil, and I have enjoyed all of it. The world changes and we have to have the courage to change with it and work to change what we can about our working conditions (and salaries). If you want to do it then do it, if not then don't.