It is said of some (if not most) pilot groups that the senior pilots will "eat their young" to preserve what they have. In the case with some of the senior pilots at the majors, companies are dangling pilot retirement in front of them (if it hasn't already been thrown away) in order to get what they (management) want, less pay/less bennies/more productivity.

In the case of regional groups, the senior pilots just don't care about the new guy. Maybe it is because the newbies now days get hired with 300 hours and didn't have to earn their flying job by working tooth and nail to get it. I don't know. Or maybe they figure (at some places) that they will be out of there within a couple of years. Not as likely in the pilot job market as it is today.

I know it sounds stupid to aspiring airline pilots, but the pay would only increase if the pilot supply was not there. That means until folks decide not to pursue flying as a "working hobby" then there will always be pilots willing to fly for peanuts. Pilots are dime a dozen and regional airline management folks know that so they pay crap. They know a new guy is willing to accept less than substandard pay for a job that requires a technical skill and more stringent regulation and testing/checking than most other professions.

An example of how a tight job market for pilots would only aid in increasing pilot pay:

American Eagle in their last TA, gave new hire pay a substantial upgrade due to the fact that no one wanted to work there. They needed to do something to make the airline more attractive to new hires, so they increased new hire pay (which still sucks) more than the agreed upon rate that is stated in Eagle’s contract (this is called the IAI calculation if I remember correctly). I don’t think it helped much because most know how fruitless a career at Eagle can be (measured in upgrade/advancement opportunity). So this is an example of what a tight job market could do for all airline pilots, but sadly I don’t think that day will ever come.