At present, the meter readers believe that all advances in technology have not benefitted them, in terms of making their work easier or improving their wages or benefits. All the new innovations have done have sufficed to make it easier for management to 'speed up' the work requirements, with no added benefit in terms of wages or ease of work. The leadership of the union is in a state of flux. A new president has been selected who may not be amicable to some of the older members of the union. The new president does not want to become unpopular in by agreeing to a controversial first settlement during his term in office, and will likely want at least some involvement in any union subcommittee, regarding its technical recommendations. The union technical staff will not want to alienate the new president, or appear to be taking a stance that might hurt their fellow union members. Likewise, the experts of management should not feel as if they are forced to be disloyal, or subverting their employers. The subcommittee should not be constructed to be so autonomous that factions within either negotiating party are created.

Question

In this instance, management seems to wish to 'have their cake and eat...

To some degree, this is understandable, given that the utility wants to maximize its income and cut costs. However, this is acting as an understandable disincentive for workers to give the input management says that it desires and needs to engage in continuous improvement of processes. Without improving worker compensation and creating a system of incentives for rewarding workers that create new methods to improve and speed up current processes, everyone will suffer -- including the management until it creates the technological 'silver bullet' that will eliminate the workers altogether. Until then, however, the company runs the risk of being in real financial straights.
Two new programs are needed -- the first in which workers become part of the managerial team to institute a program of continuous improvement, for which they will receive financial compensation, in addition to their current duties. Secondly, management must immediately begin a retraining program, so that workers have a good faith guarantee that any improvements in technological processes will not result in job losses.