Mud-skipper,
I've been on the 'Bus in QF for S/H and L/H flying. I must disagree on the pay front.
It sounds like the 'checkers & trainers' have taken a hit because of the generous provisions of the S/H training loadings they got when the rest of us were flying around minimum guarantee; I can understand their frustration that a change of award from S/H to L/H has cost them. I was told by a 'trainer' that therre might be redress; good luck to them, and I'm sure that as long as someone is prepared to do the job for the money/prestige, it will keep getting done.
However, for the rest of us, I've found that any pay drop is attributable NOT the award, but to the nature of the flying the A330 is now doing. Our trips now, unlike high-density-domestic-day flying, are inefficient because the company is using the 'Bus on selected sectors internationally only three times per week. (eg Perth-Tokyo, Perth-Singapore, SYD-Shanghai) On occasion I've done four sectors in a nine day trip!!!That's a commercial/corporate/marketing decision and pilots have to live with that. But I have done the sums and have proven to my satisfaction, and in great detail that, while the flying remains inefficient it is the L/H award which offers me greater recompense FOR THE SAME PATTERNS OF FLYING because of it's minimum daily credit provisions. The only thing we've lost by the transition to the L/H award is the SYD-PER-SYD-in-a-day exemption to the CAOs (ie high pay day), but what we've gained is a better safety net to '17 stick hours in 7 days' type flying... oh.. and, as an aside, remember you can't pick up extra flying from the unassigned open time when you're sitting on your a@$e in Tokyo for 82hours waiting for the next A330 to come in!
Then there's the old chestnut of blank-liners (the standby pilots at the bottom of the heap). I agree that a better (fairer?) system could be devised and support that, but I also know several pilots in that group who have flown more than I in a roster and scored overtime! They're happy with the pay too!
Another point, apparently often overlooked, is the fact that these days pilots converting to the A330 are doing so from 767/747 L/H all ranks, and for most of THEM the A330 is a definite pay rise!
In summary, I have found that when comparing my actual flying against S/H and L/H pay possibilities, I am earning more overall under the L/H award.
I stand to be corrected, while hoping for a more egalitarian world where I can go the aircraft of my choice when I want, for the money I want, never have to be junior, never have to consider all the possible outcomes in nasty 'award' legal documents, never have to plan ahead for possibilities, and have everyone pander to my commuting needs.