Key NFL Question No. 9: Should Fans Be Worried About Labor Unrest?
My thought:
Not too much.
Not yet, at least.
Yes, the storm clouds are gathering on the horizon after the league's franchise owners voted in May to reopen their labor deal with the players. That makes the 2009 season the final one in the deal with a salary cap, and the 2010 season the final one in the agreement.
There are serious issues here. The owners and the players went to the precipice of labor strife in 2006 before backing away. Former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue got the owners to approve a last-minute settlement then on, mostly, the players' terms. Only two owners, the Bills' Ralph Wilson and the Bengals' Mike Brown, voted against that settlement, but now a large number of owners share their belief that it was a bad deal for management.
This will be a difficult and combative set of labor negotiations, for sure. The league's long run of labor peace indeed could be threatened seriously in 2011.
But there will be three seasons of football played before then, so the average fan doesn't need to start fretting just yet.
By Mark Maske |
July 18, 2008; 9:23 PM ET
| Category:
Negotiations
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Posted by: rbpalmer | July 19, 2008 7:13 PM
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Whenever management in a prosperous industry wants give-backs, as it sounds like the owners want, trouble lies ahead. I see labor strife, and maybe a lock-out, ahead. If the union decertifies in response, I think the owners will really turn the screws regarding work conditions, i.e., more minicamps and fewer benefits. In other words, I think its going to get ugly.