I don't think life style is the issue here. It's the validation that Ethiopian gets from pilots willing to work for free until they've completed their line training. That's just not right, and unfair to those trying to seek improved conditions.
It's bad enough when young budding children of the magenta line poor their parents money down the crapper to sit in the right seat of a Boeing ala Lion Air of Indonesia. It's another thing when an individual with many years experience who sells their dignity to the devil, at Ethiopian... and what for???
I couldn't care less how far beyond the age 60 anyone is, there is something called respect for one's peers trying to raise the bar.
Pilots who have a pension??? fantastic. Don't use it to justify the fact that a bottom feeding company refuses to provide a decent wage for an honest day's work. There's no justification for that rational.
It would be better for their jets to sit on the ground without crews until Ethiopian comes to their senses.