Ralph,
You speak of things you don't know.
At no time has the company said "sign or else", either to me or to my knowlege, to any one.
It was a competitive tender. The tender was based on agreed conditions. Had the tendered bottom line been higher than it was then perhaps instead of continued employment, many of us would be looking at a bleak future.
Perhaps not.
We'll probably never really know the full details.