This reply will probably be a bit of a ramble, and is cetainly far astray from the original thread of RAH recalls.
You are correct, there is far more to a contract than pay, but for the moment I only have pay scales to compare. I also suspect that if contracts were compared to other regionals, you would find them similar.
I agree that F.O. rates are a travesty. My point of the post was that so is almost every other similar airline. (take a look at F.O. rates at Pinnicle for example) I don't think Republic deserves the special bashing they seem to get for theirs.
As to improving it, well, everyone needs to be careful. It was only a few years back that the new Comair contract was being toted as a triumph. Since then Comair has been shrinking and is even rumored to be possibly axed by Delta and its flying given to cheaper carriers. Air Wisconsin has one of the better contracts, but they were dumped by UAL and only a "pay to fly" deal with cash strapped USAir kept them going.
So, what can we do about all this? In the short term, nothing. Either commit idealistic suicide or take what the current system allows. However, in the long term, we have a tool that I think would work.(there may be others, I can't believe I'm the only one who has ideas about this paradox). That tool is National Seniority list. This would give the pilots as a whole some leverage. Close airline A down, then those guys and gals get to go to the newly expanding airline B. Problems with it? I am sure. But it would give us some protection.
The next part of the deal is get 1 or 2 day strikes allowed as they are in Europe. The current system is an all or nothing affair that makes the employees liable to be replaced, or the possible total collapse of the airline itself if the strike lasts more than a short period. This would involve a massive commitment of legislative/regulatory change by all interested unions.
The natl seniorty list will be resisted by entrenched powers. I think this is short sighted. Personal prediction: probably after I am retired, but in my lifetime, there will be no pilots employed by a specific carrier. Pilots will all be working for contract providers(such as many Asian airlines currently do) and their contracts will be subject to transfer and willy-nilly cancelation by airline XYZ. A national list could either stop such events, or at least dictate who goes to what contract. Am I right about this prediction? I hope not, but the current "haves" should think about it before dismissing a national list out of hand. Ok, enough for now. All responders feel free to "cry havoc".