They guy who got me into this industry, and many of those he flew with were adamant about protecting the work rules and QOL for those pilots junior to them. They understood the wedge and its ramifications. Many of them had kids who wanted to become airline pilots, so they had some skin in the game.

Was it nirvana? Of course not. But the QOL and camaraderie we have today pales in comparison. It probably started around the time of the original B scale which offered NO parity, ever. Screw you guys, we got ours. To the delight of management, this has become the norm. We've become a bunch of independent contractors.