Originally Posted by
FL370esq
Yeah..I'm not gonna buy that one, Trip. An opening pass across the table is just that, an opener. Both sides ask for the moon (one side at "0" and the other at "100"). Negotiators then take those "asks" and begin working towards "50" through potential exchanges and conditions. If the zone of reasonableness is, say 30-70, and after some good faith negotiations, one side can't pull the other into the perceived zone of reasonableness, well now we have a matter to bring before the mediator. To simply present an opening position onto the table and have the other side look and then walk away makes me think the company had no intention of negotiating the "important" stuff. While our initial "ask" may have been out of the zone of reasonableness (no idea either way), are you 100% confident the Company's counter (if they even made one) is within the zone of reasonableness?
Thats not actually how RLA negotiations generally go. The positions of both sides are not usually that far apart. In the two prior instances I am aware of where the union side opened for the moon they settled for less than they could have had with a reasonable opener. In the case of American it was 5 years later and with the Delta 777 3B6 talks half the aircraft were sold before a settlement was reached.