Grass is always green
The saddest thing is in the old days many pilots came up the ladder from flying school, to night freight on a Piper 31, to turboprop, to Jets and those guys never committed the cardinal sin of slating their previous employer - they were always grateful and the airlines wished them well as they moved on. They flew on days off for nothing apart from the love of the job, never mentioned the fatigue word, you scratch my back and i'll scratch yours.
Now days that doesn't seem to be the case, its low hour Pilot one day, arguing the toss on a roster change the next day and why am i not a Captain the next.
I guess buying their rating gives them the right, but i know who i'd rather be dealing with...........
Your last sentence reveals this shift in attitude. If airlines want to keep flight crew at arms length, essentially sub contractors, then the rise of the "Me Inc." attitude is the result. I've come up via a similar route to that which you describe. It has never been valued by an airline. The airlines are reaping what they sow.