Wow, you are the drama queen.

Like myself, there are pilots who negotiated their individual contracts with the same agency. Agencie have boiler plate contracts which they prefer their clients to sign. I had a simple excel spread sheat to ensure to keep track of my pay. I sent the spread sheet to the agency the evening of the last day of the month with details, as I was paid when I worked out of base, trained, and checked. That's the business part of being a contractor... Keep track of hours worked, pay credits, and amounts due when funds are paid.

To this day, its essential, the art of negotiating must equal one's skill set they are leasing. I use the term leasing, because a contract, generally speaking, is on with a dates of commencement, and maturation. There is a business side to being contractor, be it a pilot, plumber, electrician. Taxes, benefits, retirement, etal. I do not need, nor want any disinterested third party representative negotiating any issue, not limited to, my career, quality of life, basing, travel between home and work, compensation, benefits, retirement, or basing.

Any way back to FR.... Settled? Hardly. I did have to pay for my accommodations and food during initial training, three weeks. In the scheme of things it was an investment. I earned an EASA née JAR license. Yeah, I had to pay some $110 U.S. for each of the 14 exams I was required to write. Quite a bit more expensive to obtain on one's nickel. Any way, I digressed, again. My tenure at FR afforded me a 4 1/2 year working vacation throughout Europe. Come to think of it, all my contract work overseas have been working vacations.

I don't criticize those who prefer not to travel overseas, even if their seniority numbers afforded them to do so.

Although Grumble, after FR, I vowed never to work for a carrier sans business class or better. Now that would be settling.