The regional model functions EXACTLY the way it is supposed to!
NOBODY cares about the "profession" at the regional level, not management, not unions, not the government.
Management is happy as long as planes fly, costs are low, and nobody crashes.
Government is happy as long as ticket prices are low and nobody crashes.
Unions are happy as long as their REAL constituents (wide-body CA's) don't have to take pay cuts to subsidize regional pilots.
The underlying enabler of all this is the longevity pay scale...naive people are willing to come to work for poverty wages (or even migrant farm worker wages) on the premise that a few years down the road they'll be making $70K and before long $100K. Of course management uses whipsaw, BK, COMAIR, etc to shuffle airplanes around, ensuring that anyone pursuing a regional "career" will start over at $20K every few years. The longevity scale is the bait and switch of this con that keeps the suckers coming back again and again!
The only possible way regional pilots "might" have a shot at mitigating this issue is to collectively reject the longevity scale and set an industry standard pay for each equipment/seat. Don't get me wrong, there would still be seniority since that would determine equipment, upgrades, schedule, vacation, etc. But having a flat payscale would remove the incentive to move planes (and pilots) between regionals...that would just incur training costs with no savings on pilot pay. The challenge of course would be implementing this as managers and senior lifer CA's would resist since you'd have to "lop off" the high end of the pay scale to balance raising the low end. It would also have to be coordinated industry-wide, which would be real hard with certain pilot groups signing decades-long contracts which essentially screws future pilots who are still in grade school.
Regionals are not a game you can win, or even break even...it's rigged heavily in the house's favor. If you have independent financial means, a regional job might provide a fun hobby and flexible life-style while giving the appearance of being a productive member of society.