In a 12 -13 hour duty day, with 4 or more sectors, there is no dedicated break period, where pilot's are not working, where they are from from any flight related duty.
I discussed this with a friend of mine who is a doctor, and he was appalled by this, however unless people unite, it is hard to see how it will improve.
Years ago, when Niel Kinnock was EU commissioner for transport, and the new EU workers' directive came in, he assured there would be a transition period for public transport workers. I watched the office at my airline transform. Perviously, in the open-plan space, there had often been 3or 4 people to one large desk/table. Paper everywhere and tempers frayed. Now with the 45cubic meter rule each office worker had their own desk and peace and harmony. And their break every 2.5hrs etc. and lunch break in the fresh air.
We wondered about the 12 hours 2 of us spent cooped up in 6 cubic meters with no room to stand up and none of the other 'workers' directive' goodies.
(This includes a consideration for the working conditions of the cabin crew. Compare their environment to that of a shop or restaurant worker. Way below with no privacy or break, especially in a LoCo cabin. Don't even think about the appalling conditions on a night flight.)
Kinnock acknowledged you couldn't redesign a/c overnight and some form of compensation arrangement should be devised. Over time a better more comparable set of T's & C's would be introduced so public transport workers were not disadvantaged under the EU workers' directive.
Sounded good, but look what has happened in reality; quite the opposite. Who allowed that to happen? Both politicians, having their strings pulled by the money people, the XAA's for the same reason, and the workers/unions for not standing up and being firm and holding the politicians to their promises.
That's where we are today. And think about how bad it could really be if there were no FTL rules. As a/c performance/endurance has extended so have the FTL's. The money people hold sway and the safety margins and acceptable way of life are both eroded to the very edge.