Let me play Devil's Advocate here for a minute.
Are the Regionals as safe as a Mainline Carrier?
If yes, then why should there be any changes to the current system? There are thousands of resumes sitting in every Flight departments office right now. If all of these pilots are as well trained, qualified, etc... and cost half as much while still resulting in being as safe as the Mainline, why change anything?
If the answer is no, then you have a valid economic reason to change the conditions that would attract better and more qualified pilots. Experienced pilots would become more valuable as a hard to replace commodity.
These companies are not going to give you more money, time off, etc... out of the kindness of their hearts. And you can negotiate until you are blue in the face without seeing any real improvements to your QOL if the company knows they can replace you at will with someone who will cost them much less and do the same job. They need to value your experience. The trick is to get them to place a premium on your experience.
For example: Should you find yourself in legal trouble; do you shop for the cheapest attorney available or do you look for one with the most and best experience to get yourself out of trouble? You could hire someone that passed the bar yesterday or you could search for someone who has experience in the nature of problem you are encountering.
I would choose someone with a proven track record. In Law this is measured by years practicing, personal recommendations and win/loss record.
It is true that in our profession, you can create a superior pilot through training alone. And yes, the Navy/Air Force put relatively low time people in extremely high performance aircraft very safely. But currently I know of no civilian flight training available that matches the level of intensity of military training due primarily to cost. So for arguments sake, lets drop that comparison, it is apples to oranges.
I believe the question is "How do you get companies to value your experience and by what yardstick will you measure experience?"