I think many on this thread are involved in wishful thinking. Mergers come about for several reasons and none of which are good for new or recent hires.
Merger brings with it route overlap and this means eliminating flying and that means less pilots need to fly what previously required more aircraft.
Consolidation is the word used and this means less seats available hence higher airfares.This all works quite well in theory but then the LCC move in to replace the voids and we end up back where we started. The merger will allow investors to profit and management to profit and this is the basic reality of mergers.
Recently a major fund that had a 5 percent stake in UAL and DAL started the ball rolling on the merger rumor mill and made about 15 million in one days trading. That's the reality of mergers. When and if merger occurs be prepared for furloughs, major pilot infighting over seniority list mergers, differences in contracts, pensions and non pensions and the list is endless. It will be years before the dust settles. The pilot groups will be fractured and not get along for years.
The long and short of it is employees don't win in a merger. If you think it can't happen you need to apply Murphy's Law because it will.
As a example look at the most recent information on the US Air and America West merger. Over three years and still not resolved.
I wish you all the best and hope things can change but history has proven otherwise.