Dignity, selfishness - or irresponsibility towards peers ?
Those companies know when and if the pilot respects himself or herself, according to how much the pilot claims for what he deserves.
If he does not claim anything, he may be displaying that he does not feel he worth much, that he is terrified to loose a non-paying job, or that he hangs on at even negative salary.
This interactive style and its consequences applies to all negociation levels.
However, those companies also know how to keep all employees working for them free with false promises and by giving false hope of financial recovery, from the parking clerk, the little cleaning ladies, the executives of the telephone provider, via the pilots.
When the deterioration of the company's economy has been gradual and kept secret, the question is " when will the employees wake up ? "
I have followed survivers of an airline bankrupcy. The employees discovered that the owner was in jail when the electrical company came to remove the watt-counter.