Oh yeah, when I was an FO my base pay was 30K with a $5K "upgrade bonus". Now there is no bonus but they bumped new hire pay to 35K.

That is actually a better deal for the pilot as the 5K is now not taxed as "bonus pay" and if you work overtime that extra 5K is worked into the overtime formula to mean more money for the day of OT.

(If you're dying to know the formula it's your annual salary divided by 182 (number of work days a year) and multiplied by 1.5.)