Negotiating For More Than Pennies - Day 1

I just arrived from a 2-day union negotiation meeting in Pasadena. I flew out of Oakland on Wednesday, and was still able to see my son on his first day of (high) school. About a month ago, both union and management representatives agreed to meet for 2 days in the hopes of getting an agreement around wages.

Union wage counter proposal with my notes

My flight into Pasadena was quite pleasant and uneventful. And so was the cab ride to the Parson office. The meeting was scheduled for 11am, so I took a later-than-normal flight. But since I had to drop off my son at 6:30am for his carpool to Bellarmine, I still had to wake up early. But certainly not 4am.

It was hot in Pasadena. It was in the low 90s. But staying under shade made things a little bearable.

I got to the office about quarter to, and most of the management team were already there. By the time the union team arrived, it was about twenty past the hour. First on the agenda was reviewing the final version of the job description. After some perusing, the union agreed, and the final draft was signed and agreed upon. It took almost 30 minutes. Then, the wages.

Management presented its counter proposal to the union's from the last meeting. The union read it and asked clarifying questions.  Then the drama began. As if on cue, the union negotiator blurted her rejection of the counter proposal and immediately called for a caucus. With the union reps in tow, they all left the negotiating table and marched out of the conference room to draft their response and counter (counter) proposal. It was 12:30pm.

Everyone agreed to go into a lunch break, and resume at 2pm. During the lull, management caucused as well, and discussed a couple of proposals and possible scenarios. By 2pm, the union had not returned. No one did till a representative came back to the conference room at 4:50pm to inform us that they were close to finalizing their counter proposal, and that they should be back in about 10 minutes. They didn't. At 5:30pm, they started trickling in.

We continued to discuss, and asked some clarificatory questions about their proposal. I had most of the questions since I already knew that I had to cost their proposal out, and see if it was even feasible or realistic for management. Before 6:30pm, we called it a day.

I was billeted  at the Hilton, and checked in as soon as I left the office. I got a ride from a fellow management team member, Cory, who was also staying at the same hotel.

Some members of the management team had planned on watching a stand up comic (Paul Reiser), who was performing in town at the Ice House that evening. They were hopeful I could join them. But chances were slim because I had some numbers to crunch. After ordering room service, I began to work. It was past midnight by the time I was done. And I bet those who watched the show were already past asleep.

I'll tell you what happened on Day 2 in the next post.

Note: Author wishes to acknowledge Ice House Comedy for the screenshot used on this post.