The first of hopefully many tentative agreements (TA) were reached during Tuesday night's bargaining. In bargaining, the rule is that nothing is agreed to until everything is agreed to. In other words, we won't have a contract unless both sides can agree on what new language will be a part of the next contract, and then only if our membership votes to ratify the new agreement. While it wasn't a substantive TA, it dealt with the process of distributing the lump sum payment to encourage savings, each November.  

Our team finished presenting all of our important economic and non-economic proposals, leaving our staff to work with Labor Relations on more minor language updates. We spent a great deal of time discussing the abysmal situation we face with parking and the future impact the Pavilion will have on residents and fellows. There is simply no desire on the part of the administration to improve parking or reduce the cost you incur for the blue AVI.

Holiday Pay generated a great deal of conversation. The administration would like to streamline Holiday Pay but they are unwilling to automate the current system. It's tough to have it both ways. They suggested paying a percentage of Holiday Pay to everyone once each year. Your team did not embrace that suggestion. We conveyed that those who work on a holiday should receive additional compensation for their contribution. 

The administration owes us many counter-proposals. The next move is theirs to make.