gimbley It depends heavily on which particular airline one flies for. Terms and conditions etc. vary extensively.
At my outfit things are, for the most part, pretty good. Pay in the upper quartile, excellent pension scheme, good loss of licence and PHI are amongst the many benefits that we "enjoy". Having said that, it could and should be improved.
Currently the union and management tend to work together (as much as possible) in a proactive manner. Consequently we now have probably the best scheduling agreement in the charter market. With the notable exception of tech. problems and ATC strikes/delays etc., almost all roster changes have to be mutually agreed. Therefore a high degree of stability is being achieved.
Sure, there are long night flights (predominantly during the summer season) but if rostered intelligently using a robust scheduling agreement, the pain can be kept to a minimum, and yes, this is not always the case!!
Operationally fireflybob has pretty much summed it up. So, if you’re fortunate enough to find yourself with a choice (it does happen from time to time – honestly) choose your airline wisely and you’ll have a good time.