As a beancounter put it to me so eloquently some time back we are viewed as commodities by the companies. We all have the same ATPL so theoretically we are all the same. If we dont crash too often then companies seek to avail themselves of the commodity (pilot) for the cheapest price. There are other issues but basically thats how they see it.
If you accept this argument then we are no different to the sack of spuds at the supermarket. In our case, there are lots of spuds on the market so the price paid is low. Even worse, just to get a leg in the door at the supermarket there are some farmers who will give their spuds away for free. Supermarkets are not silly, if they can get free spuds they will use them.
Free spuds have been available in aviation since Christ wore shorts and nothing seems to change. There will always be some up and comer who will do it for zip or close too.
Qantas have even taken it to a new level. I wonder how Mr and Mrs SLF would feel if they knew that for much of the flight the aircraft was under the command of an F/O who had failed his upgrade and a 21 year old S/O still wet behind the ears . I digress, thats another thread.