Originally Posted by
Doctor13
Were they also in mediation before that? I honestly dont know. Lets say we vote no and then the company asks to return to mediation since they've changed their stance, that could be much longer than 6 months.
Horizon simply did what all the other regionals were doing. There was no reason our current negotiations should've taken longer than six months according to our CEO, but here we are any way. Are we really going to compare all majors to regionals? If so, do we then implement 18 and 20 year pay scales too??????? Asking for a friend
Once you enter mediation, the National Mediation Board determines when the dispute is released from mediation.
So, if you vote no, your dispute remains in mediation. It is typically the goal of a labor group to obtain a release from mediation because that dramatically amps up the credibility of the threat they pose to management that they might end up on strike. In general, getting released from mediation increases labor's leverage because it means they could be on strike in as soon as 30 days.
How long you remain in mediation depends on a variety of factors. But, as the railroad workers just proved earlier this year, it's possible for a block of unions representing more than 100,000 employees and 40% of the nation's freight capacity to be released from mediation in less than six months. Typically, it has taken much longer than that to win a release from mediation. But, the political composition of the NMB changed late last year to a Democratic majority, which, in the case of the rail workers, proved to be a positive development.