Disappointment after NFL and NFLPA failed to agree on new labor deal - Part 1
As you all know, the National Football League had 17 days for mediation in Washington, D.C. The league and NFL Players Association both worked hard, but were unable to reach an agreement that both sides were happy with. The players union walked away from
the mediation process on Friday 11 March, 2011 to decertify.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell believes that mediation is the fairest and fastest way to reach an agreement that works for the players and the teams that they represent. The NFL believes that the labor deal will ultimately be negotiated at the bargaining
table, but the players union wished to pursue another strategy, which is their own choice. They are still prepared to negotiate an agreement and get something done that is fair to both players and clubs.
Jerry Richardson, owner of the Carolina Panthers, thinks that this is the time for fans to not be discouraged. The league and owners worked very hard and Richardson views this as just a bump in the road. He still believes that they will have an agreement,
just as Goodell does. He also added that there has been no anger or friction between the players and the teams and that it was a very good learning experience for everyone involved. But in due cause, Richardson still believes that the two sides will be able
to work out an agreement.
John Mara, owner of the New York Giants, says that Friday was a very disappointing day for all of those involved. Mara had been attending the mediations for the better part of two weeks and for those two weeks, the union’s position on the core economic issue
has not changed one iota. Their position has basically been take-it-or-leave-it and the union has effectively been in the same position since last September.
Mara and the rest of the league made an offer to the union, before they walked out, to basically split the difference between the two sides at around 12:00 PM ET on Friday. At 4:00 PM ET on the same day, the union came back to the meeting and said that the
proposal was insufficient and they had apparently decided to decertify at that point. One of the things that became painfully apparent to Mara during this period was that the union’s objective was to go through the litigation route.
Mara says that the union believes that this route will give them the best leverage and that during the past two weeks of talks, he never got the feeling that they were serious about negotiating. That is unfortunate because that is what collective bargaining
is all about.
To see what else happened at the meetings between the NFL and NFLPA, and what the league plans to do next, check out the next article.
The views stated in this article are the opinions and views of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson, New York Giants owner John Mara and NFL Executive Vice President of Labor Jeff Pash. The views have been
conveyed through the understanding of the writer based on comments made at a press conference on Friday 11 March, 2011 in Washington, D.C. The views do not represent Bettor.com’s official editorial policy in any way.
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