Both of these are examples of poor negotiating on behalf of the association.
People should not "low bid" and sell themselves short just to get a contract, nor is it right to make that money up in a round-about manner.

The second quote is truly disturbing as the association leadership can only contract to cover the contests, but not require the independent contractors to do so. Someone needs to have a stern chat with your association leadership.

I actually LIKE working ONE scrimmage before the season starts. It's a chance to give back by working with brand new officials to get them on the court in a learning environment, and I get to stretch my legs. My first game this year is a big school grudge match between a couple top in the state teams. I would rather my first whistle of the season not be in that game. I get to warm up, kids get to warm up, most importantly new officials get to warm up.

That being said, I am not getting yelled at while I'm donating my time. I would probably walk over and calmly let him/her know "a week from now, that would get your opponents some free throws. Can we continue now?"

Private organizations can have requirements for membership, correct?

Plus, as stated in subsequent post, state rules prohibit pay for scrimmages. So the entire state's officials would have to stand together in revolt.

Plus, oddly enough, of all the things I dislike about the business of officiating, this is a practice that doesn't bother me. I look at it as an extension of annual training, making sure that all officials have at least blown the whistle once before the regular season.

Compared to the expensive and time-consuming expectations and requirements college supervisors have, this is relatively harmless to me.

Maybe, maybe not. All negotation is give and take. A contract that provides for free scrimmage coverage is not ipso facto worse for the referees than one that pays for the scrimmages. (Extreme example: would you rather work two free scrimmages and then get paid $100 per ref per game for three man games or get paid $50 for scrimmages and $50 per ref per game and do 2 man?) You can't condemn the negotiators without knowing what the contract was before that they were working from, what the members told them they wanted, and what they got in exchange for what they gave up.