Aviation, seems to be in an era of continuous fighting to maintain terms & conditions of employment. This IMHO is driven by all those on the ground, CEO's included who basically are "wanabes" and wish they were pilots/cabin crew as they percieve that the job is a doddle and a fantatic life style. They do not see why they should pay decent wages to people who are in their opinion doing their hobby as a living. Jelousy is a powfull thing.
We should all look to the shipping industry to see the future of aviation. Once ships were crewed by well paid western seaman. Now they are mostly crewed by far eastern underpaid individuals. The individuals themselves may be equally as competant as those seamen of yesteryear, but their wages are now absolutly awfull for the jobs they are doing.
To use the excuse that the costs must be reduced so the traveling public can have cheaper flights does not hold a lot of water as the % difference in the direct operating costs is not that great. Maybe reducing the excessive number of managers and the CEO's salary, would be of greater benifit to reducing those overheads.