Lot of naysayers on this thread. If the situation is really so dire, why didn’t you guys just vote for TUMI? (Or maybe you are the 6%.) You had a 14.5% (read: 9.5%) raise for the taking & just turned it down while the company apparently has no vested interest in finalizing an agreement? Anyway, this contract’s been overdue for three years- why now is it suddenly hopeless & doomed?

The reality is, both sides have some motivation to get this done, & both sides have some pressure points they can access to nudge the other- which is how negotiations happen. Neither side is backed into a corner, unless we allow ourselves to believe we have no bargaining power & need to accept whatever offer the company feels magnanimous enough to grace us with.