Editors Guild contracts set minimum terms and conditions that apply to all employees, but individuals are free to negotiate terms for themselves that are superior to the contract's minimums. Guild contracts also contain language specifying that no individual who already enjoys better terms or conditions of employment has those terms reduced when the contract is implemented.

That's a key principle, because solidarity would be imperiled as soon as one well-paid employee takes a hit in order for her lesser-compensated colleague to get a boost. Union contracts are about lifting the floor for everybody; they don't impose a ceiling on anyone.