The message from the Secretary Treasurer makes it sound like next week might be a significant point in contract talks, at least what direction we're heading.

Maybe, my bet:

Option 1. The company bargains in good faith and we continue in negotiations.

Option 2a. The company doesn't bargain in good faith and we follow UPS into voluntary mediation.

Option 2b. The company doesn't bargain in good faith but the mediators side with the company and decide that mediation would not be fruitful at this time so we continue in section 6 negotiations with meetings scheduled for after peek.

We will get a contract when more than half of us decide flying extra is counter productive or UPS successfully completes mediation. I have a prediction for which of those two options is more likely also.

UPS and the IPA will not have a TA until MAYBE Aug. 2015. The Talks here are a Joke at the moment. UPS wants to go back to 1991 and won't budge so far. Just a Big game to them. And it works. Delay, delay, delay. So the Crews will settle for a substandard Contract. Has worked for the last 30 years, and will work for the next 30 years. We need a SOS in my opinion. Take us to Court, imo.

Not with the group we have negotiating right now.

Sometimes no progress is progress, better a good deal later than a bad deal now. Why would the company deal with any of us now; anything we have they want they get. As old grammy would say why buy the cow when you get the milk for free.

So that still puts you about 6 months ahead of us.

While it's easy to blame the negotiators, maybe we (as a group) should look in the mirror.

We can all wear lanyards, picket, etc, but we all know our real source of leverage. Until that time, it won't matter who is negotiating for us.

Yes Yes Yes !!!!

Yes yes yes also. To me it sounds like next week will tell the story of how ugly it gets.