Originally Posted by
RonRicco
I know it is fun to get spooled up over what I can only describe as spin, but Sailing is correct here. Everything is interconnected. If say for example, the company is working within a billion dollar budget, they are going to have to find which items are truly “must haves” and which ones are throw aways before committing to something that might eat up their budget. So the fact that they have only agreed to 28m has no bearing on what they are actually willing to spend.
Remember. WE are the ones that wanted the mediation clause in the contract. We welcomed mediation for TA2. Assuming we are in the zone, we should be welcoming it this time.
What you state is correct however the companies request for mediation prior to even putting a full opener on the table is very unusual. It is clearly designed to push negotiations to after this summer. I may however change my opinion on that after seeing our opener.
Keep one thing in mind now that we are going to mediation. The NMB has always worked from what they call the zone of reasonableness. They define that zone as how your working conditions and compensation measure up to your peers in the same industry.