Umpire negotiations- where now?

[DIV2ump]

There's a lot of posturing from the union guys and management as expected. It's obscuring the big question.

The big question is where does the negotiation go from here?

After long bargaining sessions the union and minors finally cut a deal that's unanimously endorsed by the union bargaining committee. The deal is taken to the membership where it is resoundingly defeated.

1) Does the union expect to be able to go back to management and get them to negotiate against themselves?
2) The union negotiating committee has zero credibility. Why should management believe they can cut a deal when the committee has proved they can't sell it?
3) Even if the current committee were to resign who would replace them and does that put it back to square one?

What a mess.

[BigUmp56]

This is not an uncommon occurrence. Union bargaining committee's routinely bring back "recommended" contracts to the bodys membership for ratification and are shot down. It's called "good faith" bargaining. The committee has a previously established bare minimum from the body before they ever enter the negotiating room. I have to believe that the AMLU bargaining committee knew this contract proposal had no chance of being ratified, however in an appearance of good faith they brought it back to the membership. Now from a PR standpoint they can go back to the table and say they were at least objective enough to take a bu11@1t proposal back for a vote. This way they're allowed to leak just how little was offered by management to the press. This tends to make management look like the bad guys when the media picks up things like a per diem increase of the $1.00 they offered in this case.


Tim.

[WhatWuzThatBlue]

An AMLU member was quoted as saying that they bargaining commitee had not brought a deal back to be voted on since January. The membership was getting stir crazy and wanted to see what was actually being offered. The committee may have been obligated by the union's by-laws to bring back and offer for a membership vote once the strike had begun. There have been internal rumblings and press releases to that effect.

The fact remains that PBUC is in the driver's seat and that the Minor League umpires are left on the side of the road. That is a shame, they are wasting their talent and time because of a bad business decision. Restructure before it is too late. Garb the menial raise and sign for a year or two at most. Get a decent committee together and don't shoot for the moon. We all want them to earn a decent living but they are appearing to be greedy. To be honest, they may be out of luck very soon. Patience is wearing thin internally and the replacements are doing a nice job. PBUC will certainly reorganize no matter which way this goes. Just remember, this is a passionate discussion for us but a business for the owners. Umpires should know that the administration never really cares for our well being.

The IL President and MiLB negotiator has already stated that no new offers will come from them. That means that AMLU has to grovel or be gone. It may not be fair but they've stated their position and they don't have to pay any more than they are doing.

[DIV2ump]

Originally Posted by WhatWuzThatBlue

An AMLU member was quoted as saying that they bargaining commitee had not brought a deal back to be voted on since January. The membership was getting stir crazy and wanted to see what was actually being offered. The committee may have been obligated by the union's by-laws to bring back and offer for a membership vote once the strike had begun. There have been internal rumblings and press releases to that effect.

The fact remains that PBUC is in the driver's seat and that the Minor League umpires are left on the side of the road. That is a shame, they are wasting their talent and time because of a bad business decision. Restructure before it is too late. Garb the menial raise and sign for a year or two at most. Get a decent committee together and don't shoot for the moon. We all want them to earn a decent living but they are appearing to be greedy. To be honest, they may be out of luck very soon. Patience is wearing thin internally and the replacements are doing a nice job. PBUC will certainly reorganize no matter which way this goes. Just remember, this is a passionate discussion for us but a business for the owners. Umpires should know that the administration never really cares for our well being.

The IL President and MiLB negotiator has already stated that no new offers will come from them. That means that AMLU has to grovel or be gone. It may not be fair but they've stated their position and they don't have to pay any more than they are doing.

Interesting stuff. Appreciate the insights.

Brings me back to the beginning, what a mess. Do you think the union leadership miscalculated or did they promise too much to the membership and when reality hit what was available the membership wasn't satisfied because of the earlier promises?