Mark,
Australia has a quaint system of "Awards", which dictate minimum pay rates, allowances, leave, leave loading (yes, you get paid extra to go on holiday, 'cos the unions figure that you lose out on overtime. Don't get overtime? So what, still get 17.5% loading
) and other working conditions.
These awards are promulgated for each industry, and are binding upon respondant employers. Always a bone of contention between Labour Unions and Liberal Governments, Federal efforts to replace Awards with Enterprise Bargaining is continually stymied by the labour influenced employment courts, Labour State Governments, and other interested parties.
Re working for nowt, it can and is a continuing PITA in the FW GA industry here. Too many operators unscrupulously take advantage of young hopefuls, either not paying them, or breaking promises of payment. This, of course, allows them to operate at a lower than normal charter rate, which then puts pressure on the honest operators, who need continuing work to stay viable.
A never ending quandary, with the variation in the helicopter industry of the rich man's toy syndrome: convince a prospective private owner that his new toy can be put out to work, then undercut the opposition at unrealistic rates until the owner twigs that he's not making enough to cover costs, and pulls out. In the meantime, the operators are cutting costs to remain competetive, and the whole local industry suffers. No profit to reinvest, no decent salaries for pilots, cut price maintenance, the list goes on and on.
And we only have ourselves to blame
