semper fi
The strike happened not because of money but because of "Security of Tenure". The striking pilots left the Phils because they didn't have jobs and they need to feed their families. Had they not lose their jobs, they would have hung on and stayed with their families.
The PAL pilots of now are not strikers, they're scabs (well, most of them, if not all) and they crossed the picket line not because they can't feed their families but because they want to be ahead of the others. Simple opportunism! They grab the seniority, get their commands, well before the dust gets settled... Though most of them went back to PAL because they were afraid to apply outside the Phils, knowing how weak they are to pass the stringent admission procedures (not to mention medical) of foreign airlines.
Unfortunately, the dust didn't get settled but fortunately for them, they got their jobs & their precious commands. Now, realizing that Pinoy pilots (the strikers) can make it abroad, and armed with command time, these people got to thinking, "Hmmm...if they can do it why not me? Plus i have my command now while these strikers are still struggling on the right seat..."
To answer your question:
OF COURSE THEY WANT TO LEAVE PAL BECAUSE OF THE MONEY. THAT'S ALL THEY COULD THINK ABOUT SINCE JUNE 1998.