VX was ALPA, they were on the industry standard trajectory for a startup airline.

More fairness... the raise was largely offset by degraded (industry substandard) workrules, especially for the commuters.

Still more fairness... all of the LCC's got similar payscales within a couple years of SLI so there's no reason to expect that ALPA VX wouldn't have achieved the same.

As an objective observer it was a rough wash for both sides, with VX commuters suffering the most. Silver lining for all was a larger airline, the better to survive covid and compete with the big boys.