It takes TWO to tango

Times management, apparently tired of what it calls the "labor dance," asked Wednesday for a temporary hold in bargaining with the Guild in an effort to, in its words, "cut to the chase."

Company Senior VP for Labor Relations and Human Resources Alayne Fardella suggested bargaining continue only after the commission-only salespeople have brought their counterproposal to the table. Then, she said, the two teams can come together to "wrap things up."

"On Friday," Fardella said, "let's put everything on the table and let's make a commitment to throw things off. Trying to balance how we cut through the more traditional labor dance and get to the end."

For the second meeting in a row, Times management came to the table with no proposals and no counterproposals, other than a sentiment that we should take a break and "cut to the chase." It left most of the Guild team wondering this: If the company is so interested in wrapping this up, then why has it essentially stalled for the past three weeks? After all, we still have outstanding proposals, but the company seems resistant to negotiation.

That was never more clear than near the end of the session. The Guild team agreed to make Thursday a caucus day, and then asked Times chief negotiator Chris Biencourt if the company had an answer on our proposal for 25 cent raises, which we gave the company almost a week ago.

"We'll give an answer on Friday," he said.

The startled look on Guild AO Liz Brown's face was priceless.

Sheri Williams, Guild bargainer, bristled at the suggestion that the Guild team wasn't already trying to make progress: "I take issue with the idea that we may have been doing some kind of a 'labor dance,' " she said. "Every day we come with a list and make a commitment to make some kind of movement. Last time, your side came to the table with nothing. If you had been prepared to move last Friday, I think we could have possibly been at the end."

It was a sentiment echoed by Guild bargainer Paul Morgan: "I'm all for making movement. But this is two meetings in a row when you've come with nothing concrete. We have all kinds of stuff that we're willing to put out on the table. I totally agree with your sentiment (to get his done). I have a great job I want to get back to. I don't know what you're hoping to accomplish with a speech that hangs it all out there and tries to usher us quickly to (conclusion)."

Guild bargainer Darryl Sclater said a quick resolution without proper debate and discussion could create more problems than it solves.

"What we agree on here is not the final word," he said. "It has to go out and be voted on by the membership as a whole. It could be counterproductive to rush a deal through and make people feel that we didn't (try everything we could)."

Guild prez Yoko Kuramoto-Eidsmoe asked why, if the company is prepared to make progress, it couldn't do so without a break.

"When Paul (Morgan, Guild bargainer) said 'It feels like we're playing games,' it struck me that this whole labor process . . . it seems like it's not what we're trying to accomplish," Fardella said. "We were trying to keep it as least contentious as possible."

So the Guild team will meet on Thursday to discuss its options, with the intention - as always - of returning to the table on Friday and making progress.