I have ranted about this before and I shall continue to do so despite being personally almost beyond this particular fray. Like the monster above, I will not accept any pay cut from the current crowd of looters.
Low cost carriers might try to tell you that their goal is to be a low wage carrier. Try finding the low wage checkout queue at Coles or your kids' school's fee window. You are only worth what you'll accept. There are misguided young pilots actually paying to fly as F/Os in small US regionals. That is the depth to which a free market will go, I guess.
I hear colleagues suggesting a B scale might entice the company to again grow mainline. I hear the argument that we should not waste time negotiating for people who have yet to be hired. That too is a mistake: I joined under good T & Cs because my predecessors fought for them. If you want this industry to continue to provide a middle class income in this very expensive country then you will have to insist upon it, I'm afraid.
When did JQ terms and conditions become the gold standard, by the way? Tiger is the market bottom-feeder, yet even it pays much better than Jetstar. It should not be a race to the bottom, despite what some pimply manager will cheerfully tell you.