Qakape,
My job also entails substantial non paid time, meetings, weekends which are considered part of the obligation and after hours work preparing for presentations/meetings . Like flight crew, I am able to benefit from more than the usual four weeks per year. To be frank, the pilots I know are horrified at the amount of work I put in for the money and have said they would never do my job.
Its my choice, as is everything in life I guess .
But its not just about the $$ its about value for the $$ and whatever other's perception of that is.
Pilots should be well paid and they do have a very responsible and at times extremely demanding job. Many in the community admire and respect them and when an incident occurs , everyone will agree they are worth their pay and more on that day.
But they're not surgeons. The comparison is not really valid.
Cheers,
S.