The Unity Negotiations Team met with Joe Rossi on January 30 at 4:00 in the Board Room. I am told Joe met with Pete Mora Friday morning. They may have been deciding which issues were the most important for management. Monday Joe called Support Staff negotiators and Culinary Faculty negotiators for individual discussions of the issues to see where there could be agreement. Joe’s behavior indicates that he is serious about settling. That could change. During that Tuesday session, various contracts were discussed. I left early to teach in Cape May. I thought we might be settling the contracts that night. If that were true, I would have traveled back to Mays Landing to join the team. After class at 10:00, I called John Stratton on his cell phone. He was about to present the faculty proposals. John said he thought the session would end soon and it did. They ended at 11:00. My interpretation of the session was that we were getting closer, but other people are less optimistic. The goal is to get a fair contract that both sides can live with. If neither side is happy, it is probably a good settlement.

We began negotiations last March. One of these days, I may go back over my notes and count the number of man-hours spent in this process. When you compare the new contract with the old contract, you will not see major changes. We could have just agreed on the money issues and “rolled over” the old contact. That could have been done in one or two sessions.

The next session is Tuesday, February 6, at 1:00. I hope both sides are in a mood to settle and that it is a long session. This process is like a seduction that takes a whole year. When you get close, you have to make your move otherwise one party could get cold and it could take a few more months. Will Parsons, Coordinator for the Unity Negotiating Team