actually, according to the railway labor act, it never "expires". it becomes ammendable on that date.
negotiations are on-going. however, i don't expect a vote before the end of the year. that's based on the recently increased pace of negotiations.
this is actually pretty normal. eja is so behind the curve that they never start anything early enough to complete it ontime. our mechanic's contract is up soon and the flight attendants have just started working on their first contract. the mechanics won't start on theirs until the other two are done, so they'll be behind also - their last one was about two years late if i remember correctly.