The Producers' CBA Proposals

A few weeks ago we gave the Producers our proposals for the upcoming Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA)* negotiations, which begin this Monday. This week we got a copy of their proposals (but of course not their response to our proposals). Now, we have an agreement not to negotiate in public, so I'm not going to share those proposals here. We'll be hashing it all out soon enough. But I do have to say that some of these proposals have me baffled. As I read and digested them, several times I found myself muttering, "You want to change that?!? Why?" My philosophy is that you focus on parts of the contract that aren't working, but if it ain't broke, you don't fix it. Then again, it wouldn't be a negotiation if both sides had the same proposals. The good part is that both sides are communicating meaningfully and respectfully, and I anticipate that the negotiations will go smoothly and we'll get another good contract. *The CBA is negotiated every three years, with the current one expiring July 31. It sets the salary minimums, the basics of the health and pension plans, and basic working conditions. And, as always, it will only govern minimum conditions. Individual members are always encouraged to negotiate better terms and conditions in their personal service agreements.