The most fundamental problem in the airline career right now is regional FO pay. There will never be enough spots at the major airlines to accommodate all pilots, and there will always be cycles of stagnation. These, of themselves, are not necessarily problems that need fixing. The problem is that spending a decade as a regional FO, often until you're well into your 30's and possibly 40's, has a decimating effect on your retirement, your career earnings, and the stability of any life that you can create, including planning for a family, because they don't pay enough. So yes, this is a more significant issue than whether a delta captain makes $200/hr versus $180. And yes, I understand that many at the majors are trying to play catchup from the bankruptcies and possibly from being in the regional ghettos themselves. However, this problem needs to be fixed at the source.
If regional FOs were making a reasonable, professional $60k+ from the day that they were hired, as they absolutely should be, then there wouldn't be such enormous pressure to take any captain upgrade anywhere to get to a major airline at all costs-- and feelings of acrimony, jealousy and dog-eat-dog backstabbing would be incredibly reduced.
If ALPA had any sense, if Moak wasn't completely disconnected from reality, and if half our reps weren't "that's business" types who have vague MBA ambitions of their own (since that allows them the psychological benefit of looking down on some of us), then this would be the focus in a huge way.
It's not "paying dues". It's insanity.