The parties met this week in Chicago to continue negotiations under the outline of the Protocol Agreement entered into by the Union and Company, in which both sides agreed to a facilitated expedited bargaining process under the auspices of the National Mediation Board.
The protocol agreement called for discussions to end if agreement was not reached by May 29, 2013. While progress was made in certain areas, your negotiating committee felt the Company's latest offer fell short of their expectations, and a tentative agreement between the parties was not finalized.
We believe the addition of future bargaining dates could lead to an agreement and we will work with the carrier, to the fullest extent possible, to arrange those dates in the immediate future.
The parties will collectively assess their options as to how best proceed moving forward in the Collective Bargaining process.
