...all I can say is WOW!! This is like cutting off your arm to save your life!
Updated: September 17, 2010, 7:05 PM ET
Colts OK decertification of NFLPA
Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS -- Players for four NFL teams have already taken a key step in their looming fight with the league over pay -- a fight that may include a lockout next year.
Carl Francis, a spokesman for the NFL Players Association, confirmed in an e-mail to The Associated Press on Friday that Indianapolis, Dallas, New Orleans and Philadelphia have all voted unanimously to decertify the union. He said union leaders were still collecting voting cards from other teams.
Decertification would strip the union of its collective bargaining rights on behalf of the players, so the move might seem counter-intuitive. But since antitrust laws exempt NFL owners from being sued by unions that are negotiating CBAs, decertification would in essence eliminate the union and allow players to sue the NFL in the event of a lockout -- giving them potential leverage in their dispute with the owners.
"When it's explained why you're doing it, I don't think anyone would vote against it," he said. League officials declined to comment.
It's not the first time this has happened.
The NFLPA was decertified in 1989, two years after a failed players' strike. It returned as a union in 1993, when a contract was reached with the league that provided for free agency. That landmark CBA was renewed or restructured several times since 1993, including in 2006. The owners opted out of that deal two years ago.
The players currently get 59.6 percent of designated NFL revenues, a number agreed to in the 2006 CBA. The owners say that's too much, arguing that they have huge debts for building stadiums and starting up the NFL Network and other ventures, making it impossible to be profitable.
The NFL generates nearly $8 billion in revenues annually, with about $1 billion going to operating expenses. The owners get about 40 percent of the rest, but they want about $1.3 billion more before the players get their cut, and they'd like two more regular-season games to get more money out of the networks for everyone.
Players have said they won't take anything that amounts to a pay cut. Smith has been warning players since he took office in early 2009 to put aside money in case of a work stoppage.
Indianapolis Colts vote unanimously to decertify NFL players union - ESPN
Updated: September 17, 2010, 7:05 PM ET
Colts OK decertification of NFLPA
Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS -- Players for four NFL teams have already taken a key step in their looming fight with the league over pay -- a fight that may include a lockout next year.
Carl Francis, a spokesman for the NFL Players Association, confirmed in an e-mail to The Associated Press on Friday that Indianapolis, Dallas, New Orleans and Philadelphia have all voted unanimously to decertify the union. He said union leaders were still collecting voting cards from other teams.
Decertification would strip the union of its collective bargaining rights on behalf of the players, so the move might seem counter-intuitive. But since antitrust laws exempt NFL owners from being sued by unions that are negotiating CBAs, decertification would in essence eliminate the union and allow players to sue the NFL in the event of a lockout -- giving them potential leverage in their dispute with the owners.
"When it's explained why you're doing it, I don't think anyone would vote against it," he said. League officials declined to comment.
It's not the first time this has happened.
The NFLPA was decertified in 1989, two years after a failed players' strike. It returned as a union in 1993, when a contract was reached with the league that provided for free agency. That landmark CBA was renewed or restructured several times since 1993, including in 2006. The owners opted out of that deal two years ago.
The players currently get 59.6 percent of designated NFL revenues, a number agreed to in the 2006 CBA. The owners say that's too much, arguing that they have huge debts for building stadiums and starting up the NFL Network and other ventures, making it impossible to be profitable.
The NFL generates nearly $8 billion in revenues annually, with about $1 billion going to operating expenses. The owners get about 40 percent of the rest, but they want about $1.3 billion more before the players get their cut, and they'd like two more regular-season games to get more money out of the networks for everyone.
Players have said they won't take anything that amounts to a pay cut. Smith has been warning players since he took office in early 2009 to put aside money in case of a work stoppage.
Indianapolis Colts vote unanimously to decertify NFL players union - ESPN
