I like the "idea" but feel that petitions do little to further a cause, especially in an industry like aviation. Like HSLD said, if the unions can't affect change there is little chance that the pilot group can do anything by themselves.
A great example of this is in reference to your example of petitioning for higher pay. Airline management groups are less concerned with the wants of the pilots than they are the bottom line. You have to remember that these are businesses, and like all businesses they are in place to make a profit, not to make every employee happy all the time. Unless there is a compelling reason to change something like pay, the recommendation will fall on deaf ears. Really the only hope is when this shortage hits that the gap between pilots needed and pilots available is so great that the only way to fill classes is to make the job more desirable.
I like the idea, but I just feel that in this industry its much to hard to try to change anything without the help of a union or lobbying group.