What's the union willing to trade for that cash?  

I started in EMS in 1995 with AMC.  It was a single pilot IFR company.  You had to have a 4 year degree, you couldn't smoke, you needed to have a minimum of 3000 hours, and you had to pass an iFR check ride every 6 months.  

We had no sick leave.  No overtime until you worked 21 days, then it was just straight time.  Vacation could be taken if you could get your own coverage.  If you were liked, you could never get fired.  If the ops manager had a hard on for you he would come in and fire you overnight.  Pay sucked because most pilots were retired military.  I'm not sure I really got a raise, it didn't matter, it wasn't much.

It pretty much stayed like that until the union came along.  I wasn't a fan and didn't vote for it.  But it really changed the industry.  Now everybody in the business had to match what the AMC contract said.  They never really did that much better then the contract, and still don't for the most part.  They meet it and rarely do better, until time had passed and they catch up.  Love it or hate it, everything you have now, whether you're with AMC or not, is because of the union.  

It's not 1929.