The union wanted to go on strike two months ago. The association has been on my case. They feel we've been wasting time.

My personal opinion is this isn't even about what the district can afford. It's turned into a personal and petty battle. I think if the state would drive a dump truck full of money to the administration building, they still wouldn't budge on the offer.

We were raving about him two months ago.

It wasn't close a few months ago.

This strike did not have to occur. We made our top issues clear months ago and simply asked Boeing to do the right thing for their work force.

We were a little sloppy, but they had a lot to do with that. Maybe two months ago we might not have been tough enough to hang on and increase that lead. We seem to be getting tougher.