You make some valid points like the rest of us are being affected by the USAir wages while we are trying to get contracts. That is why I hope the East is successful in getting there rightful snap backs. It's in black and white the company owes them the money.
As a United pilot that works with some of the most junior pilots at United I can say with confidence that the majority of the pilots I work with do not think the nic is fair. For a moment lets take the CO/UA merger. The pilots I fly with have much more longevity and much less seniority than do their counterparts at CO. However almost all of them, pending on their age, will retire as widebody captains. The same can not be said for their "equals" at CO. In fact a good portion of the CO narrow body Captains would never have made widebody Captains. Just because the CO pilot reached his/her career expectation sooner than the UA pilot does not mean he gets to come over and block the UA pilot from ever reaching the career expectation he has today. The parralells here with USAir are obvious.
The West like to say they "saved" USAir. No one will ever no if that is true. If it was so obvious why didn't Parker pick it up at the fire sale. Another reality is wether the nic or DOH is used the the majority of the west pilots will end up in the same position on the seniority list due to their youth factor. If the nic is used the East will never reach their career expectation and will never make up the loss due to their age. At the time of the merger the West were never slated to fly heavy airplanes internationally the East obviously were.