I agree that pilots are widely seen by the public as highly paid. This is a
PR problem. However the public is not stupid.
If pilot max work hours are compared with max permitted hours of other "drivers", or of other operators of critical machinary.
If (as I suspect) pilots can work much longer in comparison, the argument is, in part, won.
But I do not know the real numbers.
What are the max permitted working hours for truck drivers, (train drivers, bus drivers etc)?
What are the max permitted hours of Air Traffic controllers, nuclear power operators ...whatever.
This line of approach might bear fruit with the public.