Originally Posted by
Check Essential
Historically, openers have been public but there's nothing in the law that says they have to be, or even that there has to be such a thing as "openers".
The negotiations are private (unless one side or the other decides to make public statements).
http://www.nmb.gov/publicinfo/collbarg2.pdf
Originally Posted by
Denny Crane
I don't remember ever seeing any specific opener or any back and forth offers between the union and management. When there is a Tentative Agree ment (TA) the negotiating committees, it will be presented to the MEC for their vote and if they vote in favor there will be road shows to all the bases by the union to explain it. Then there will be a membership ratification vote. Probably closing about 2 months after a TA is reached.
Denny
I'm guessing that if both/either sides decide to go public with the negotiations, then that could be a sign that negotiations aren't going well. Kinda like what ucal is going through.
Someone mentioned it a few pages back, but if management doesn't like our position could they really just say we'll meet again in 6 months?
I've heard passing a TA with retro pay rarely ever happens, especially when contract negotiations are dragged out, but how long could management drag out negotiations if they wanted to before their hand is forced?
If the MEC approves anything for a vote I believe that resets the clock and negotiations start back at square one, sound about right? I realize there is a process (cooling off period, arbitration...etc), but I just trying to figure out how long they could drag this thing out IF they wanted to.