Dear Brothers and Sisters,
In recent weeks, your Negotiations Committee was able to secure dates with Arbitrator Vince Ready for the final stages of the 2022 contract opener.
Now that summer/fall vacations are behind us all, Arbitrator Ready has designated November 1st and 2nd as our dates for interest arbitration. Under Appendix XXXXIV, each party may advance up to 10 items to arbitration that they were unable to reach agreement on during the course of normal negotiations.
Both parties submitted briefs to Arbitrator Ready on October 10th. Your Committee has been prepared for this process for months as the company has shown no real interest in negotiating throughout the process.
We have brought our legal counsel up to speed and furnished them with all the documentation and data they need to prepare our arguments in the strongest possible way.
We will update you on the process as the situation develops. We thank you again for your continued support and patience throughout this lengthy process.
In solidarity,
Negotiations Committee