NFLPA wins Lockout insurance case in NFL labour dispute
The National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) won a major battle in what the union’s president Kevin Mawae has called ‘Labour Wars.’ District Court Judge Dave Doty, who oversees the labour issue between the National Football League (NFL) and the
NFLPA, ruled that the NFL could not use the money from TV deals it signed in violation of the collective bargaining agreement (CBA).
The NFL had signed TV deals with media companies FOX, NBC, ESPN, CBS and DirecTV which were worth a combined $4 billion. The deals could have been worth more but the league decided to settle for less because the NFL wanted more guaranteed money.
The Players Association claims that the deals were a breach of the CBA, which requires owners to maximise revenues. NFL owners and players currently split revenue roughly 50-50. The players first presented their arguments in front of special master Stephen
Burbank. They asked that the guaranteed money from those deals, which the NFL intended to use as lockout insurance, be held in escrow and the NFL pay damages.
The special master ruled in favour of the players but it was far from a complete victory. The ruling paid the union almost a 10th of what they demanded in damages and allowed the NFL to use the money from the TV deals as it pleased. The players
union appealed that decision and took the case to the court of Judge Dave Doty. On Tuesday, Doty presented his ruling and decided against the NFL.
Judge Dave Doty said, “The record shows that the NFL. undertook contract renegotiations to advance its own interests and harm the interests of the players.”
Representatives for the players union argued that the NFL had put into action a premeditated plan to lockout players. “The evidence is overwhelming that the intent was something else — to get a $4 billion lockout weapon to use against the players,” union’s
attorney, Jeffrey L. Kessler said.
“They didn’t use the negotiations to maximise revenue.” Doty agreed.
The union says that Doty’s ruling is irrefutable proof of that plan and the league’s intention of unjustly locking out players.
Without the billions at their disposal in a lockout, the league will be in as difficult a financial situation as the players. The threat of lockout now isn’t as serious as it was just a few hours ago. The league however, maintains that it is business as
usual. A statement from the league read, “As we have frequently said, our clubs are prepared for any contingency, this decision included. Today's ruling will have no effect on our efforts to negotiate a new, balanced labour agreement.”
That might just be the NFL putting on a brave face for the media. Whenever there are $4 billion fewer dollars, there most definitely is an effect.
The ruling might not change the league’s plan by much though. The only way NFL owners can get their way in the current labour dispute is by forcing the players to accept their terms. The NFL is still likely to lockout players on Thursday, when the current
collective bargaining agreement expires.
The NFLPA is also preparing. The union had been seeking votes from individual teams for decertification in the event of a lockout and got unanimous approval. The union is expected to decertify before the current deal expires because if they do not decertify
by then, they will not be allowed to do so until six months later.
With their lockout fund confiscated, the NFL has lost the upper hand in the labour negotiations. The NFL though has more tricks up its sleeve. They league has already filed a complaint against the union for what it calls ‘surface bargaining’ and plans to
block the decertification.
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