My union, before I was an officer, negotiated a contract to close the factory. What they didn't do is put a frickin' sunset clause into the contract. As far as I can tell, as worded, there is no expiration on the contract; it's until we close, which would have been fine if the factory closed in 2019, like the company initially claimed. However, it's 2022, we are running 24/7 with the company completely unable to estimate a new closing date based on unprecedented demand for our product (thanks to COVID shutdowns).
Now, I'm an officer shackled with this stupid contract, which stipulates no striking. Is there any legal precedent for this kind of situation? Is there some sort of court-invented automatic sunset for “closing” contracts for factories that don't close? I'd like to force the company to expand union hiring and tie future pay raises to cost of living, but we lack the leverage to do so.
Now, if the closing contract *had* a sunset clause, obviously we would have more leverage.