1. Although it is very rare for an employer to begin negotiations with a request to reduce wages, do you think it is always a symptom of bad faith for a company to do so?
2. Would you think differently if it was the first CBA being negotiated?
3. Under the "duty to bargain in good faith" standard articulated by the Supreme Court, did the company commit an unfair labor practice by failing to provide the union with the requested financial information?
4. Was the company engaging in "surface bargaining?" If so, why wasn't the union also guilty of surface bargaining because it wouldn't agree to the company's wage offer?