Union/Company negotiations are often long and drawn out with both sides trying to prove they aren’t afraid to walk away from the table so things drag on and on. But in reality neither side wants a strike. Strikes cost workers lost wages and many union workers live paycheck to paycheck so a strike can really hurt the workers. Likewise strikes cause companies bad publicity and can disrupt the business in lots of ways meaning lost profits.
So the goal of both sides is to appear like you are negotiating in earnest, that you are doing your very best, while not giving in on anything that matters. That often means keep working under the old contract while the negotiations are still going on.
