The long & the short of it, is that certain companies (not just the one being discussed here) used pilots greed very effectively against them. When the offer of becoming a "Brookie" first appeared in FR, I resisted the headlong lunge towards the unknown that many colleagues were so enamoured with. In all honesty, unless you were living in Ireland, the ability to claim back your Irish tax (which Declan Dooney never forgot to mention during interview) meant that the difference wasn't so much anyhow, unless you were a 100hr/mth line trainer stuffing circa €15K/mth in your pocket.
Those who lived through that era are not complaining too much now ( & shouldn't be) but the legacy they left behind for their colleagues, who, when everything got a bit more "legal" found themselves paying employers + employees social contributions, means that the once "wonderful" hourly rate (decimated anyhow over the years) has become a joke. . . such a joke in fact, that the totally cr@p permanent contracts now offered aren't that much worse. . . end game achieved.
I had €7000/mth totally legally (without claiming back IE tax) in 2008, my colleagues in NAS with Spanish bases have the same now with (lets say ) 21-35% inflation since then (depending on whether you believe the official figures or your own gut feeling) I would guess the average Europe based FR Capt may even struggle to reach that "dizzy" figure x12 in a year.
So, we have, by allowing ourselves to be "manipulated" out of "employment", awarded ourselves around a 1/3 pay cut in the last 7 years, smart guys pilots Eh
