That “Internal” NFLPA Matter

Well, maybe there’s more to this than met my eye at first.  The allegation by the HR Director that we’ve posted briefly about has since been confirmed by the NFLPA.  The Department of Labor is investigating whether the NFLPA broke labor laws by colluding with the NFL by holding secret meetings about labor issues.

Last year, Goodell and Houston Texans owner Bob McNair met with Vincent, a finalist for the executive director job, to influence the direction of the football union, according to the lawsuit. Moran alleges that player representatives and at least one current NFLPA executive committee member met with owners “to give the owners access to critical information before negotiations” on a new collective bargaining agreement.

The NFL said it has not seen the lawsuit but that Goodell and other owners last year did meet with Vincent, though not on labor issues. The NFL said the league met with Vincent and other union representatives on issues including the Pro Bowl, personal conduct, retired players, competition issues, and player safety. The NFL also said Upshaw was present during these meetings.

Over at the Workplace Prof Blog, Professor Hirsch notes:

It’s unclear what’s really going on here.  For instance, it seems odd that the union is being investigated–if the allegations are true, the owners and a rogue union official are the perpetrators and the union is the victim.  We’ll [no] doubt hear more later.

We’ll obviously keep an eye on this.  Let us know if you hear anything.

Filed under: labor law, collusion, DOL Probe, Workplace Prof Blog

Learning about the NFL Management Council

If you’ve been reading along or have read the About page, you know that I’m writing this blog because I’m trying to education educate myself about the collective bargaining process in the NFL.  Well, I’m learning.  Earlier, I posted an entry about whether the NFL should be required to fully open its books for the NFLPA to review.  I tried to distinguish the Silverman v. MLB PRC case, noting that the court found the PRC (MLB’s “Player Relation Committee”) was the negotiating party to the agreement, not the MLB commissioner.

Quick recap: The MLB union had argued that the commissioner had publicly discussed the league’s supposedly poor finances as a rationale for its position in the CBA, which meant that the union should be able to look at the league’s books.  The court, however, held that the Player Relation Committee was the party with whom the union was negotiating, NOT the commissioner.  Because that committee (supposedly) hadn’t invoked the issue of the league’s poor finances, the league was not required to open its books.

SO. That’s a long way of saying that my initial dismissal of this argument isn’t exactly right.  The NFL is represented in the labor negotiations by its own committee, the National Football League Management Council (NFLMC).  The latest information (found at the SportsBusinessJournal) shows that the following team owners and presidents sit on the NFLMC:

• Pat Bowlen (co-chair), owner, Denver Broncos
• Jerry Richardson (co-chair), owner, Carolina Panthers
• Mike Brown, owner, Cincinnati Bengals
• Bill Ford, Jr., owner, Detroit Lions
• Clark Hunt, owner, KC Chiefs
• Jerry Jones, owner, Dallas Cowboys
• Robert Kraft, owner, New England Patriots
• John Mara, owner, New York Giants
• Mark Murphy, president, Green Bay Packers
• Art Rooney II, president, Pittsburgh Steelers

Look for comments from these folks about finances.  We already have Mark Murphy talking about how salaries are rising faster than revenues.  But you’ll notice that Kraft and Bowlen have spoken in very general terms about finances or the process.  We’ll follow these folks, but let us know if you see any interesting comments.

Needless to say, I would have realized this if I went ahead and read the CBA, which states that the NFLMC is “recognized as the sole and exclusive bargaining representative of present and future employer member Clubs of the National Football League . . . .”  Oh well.  I’m digging into the CBA and will be posting about the various provisions.

Also, we’ve added these folks to the RadRev Cast of Characters.

Filed under: labor law, NFL revenue, NFLMC, Art Rooney, Bill Ford, Clark Hunt, Jerry Jones, Jerry Richardson, John Mara, Mark Murphy, Mike Brown, MLB, Pat Bowlen, Robert Kraft, Sports Business Journal

Should the NFL Be Required to Open its Books?

The NFLPA’s initial argument in the CBA negotiations is, essentially: “if the league is really doing as poorly financially as you say it is, then you have to show us your financial data.”  Simple enough.  As we saw yesterday, Mark Murphy (Prez/CEO of the Green Bay Packers) said:

The NFLPA has access to an extraordinary amount of financial information and will have the necessary financial data it needs to make informed decisions, as has been true for the past 15 years.

Is that enough?  According to Joel Maxcy, at the very fine Sports Labor Relations blog, the answer is no.  Major League Baseball tried that gambit (pleading poverty, but hiding its figures), and, it’s true, ultimately succeeded.  But the rule that came out of Silverman v. MLB PRC, from the Southern District of New York (1981) (overruling the NLRB), hinged on the fact that the actual negotiating party, the MLB Player Relation Committee, never claimed financial hardship (it was just that freewheeling and totally unconnected commissioner making wild statements to the press [snark]) and therefore the issue wasn’t part of MLB’s bargaining position.

As Maxcy points out, the struggling finances of the NFL are directly cited by the NFL in its press release announcing that it was opting out of the CBA.

The sports labor relations blog is filthy on this stuff.  Check it out.

Filed under: labor law, NFL revenue, NFLPA, Joel Maxcy, MLB, NLRB, Sports Labor Relations blog

2011: A Sports Odyssey

As you may know, the NFL isn’t the only league with labor issues on the horizon; NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL all have labor contracts expiring in 2011.  Whoa, right?  The Sports Business Journal calls it “the equivalent of a full solar eclipse on the sports labor calendar.”

Head on over to the SBJ to read the whole thing, because it really breaks down the issues for each league and the awkward positioning of the leagues who instituted a salary cap, but now find it to be not of their liking.

Some quotes from the NFL folks:

And in the NFL, the salary cap system that began in 1993 is not working for owners anymore, said [Jeff] Pash [the NFL chief legal officer], who is leading negotiations for the owners. “It may have been perfectly sound in 1993 when it was entered into, but it has not evolved in a way that reflects the operations of the National Football League in 2009,” Pash said. Among other things, Pash said that system does not take into account owners increased costs, including more privately financed stadiums and debt service.

Another MAJOR issue?  Proskauer Rose, the New York law firm, has a seat at each one of the tables.  How about that? Not bad for the PPP (profits per partner) in this downturn.  It does suggest some questions, though.  Are the leagues working in cahoots?  Is there some sort of informal information sharing going on?  How tall are those chinese walls? How does one CBA agreement effect the others? The Sports Business Journal article mentions that there is typically not “pattern bargaining” like there might be in auto labor deal.

If the leagues can’t collude, can the unions?

[NBAPA Executive Director Billy] Hunter said the expiration of all four deals in the same year was something he discussed at length with Gene Upshaw, his good friend and the former NFLPA executive director, before Upshaw died unexpectedly last year.

“If it resulted in any one group being locked out, I think he sort of saw himself at the front because the NFLPA agreement is the first to expire.” Hunter said. He has not yet addressed this issue with Upshaw’s successor, Smith.

Upshaw, Hunter said, “thought it provided an opportunity that I guess we could all … unify if we all kind of took a universal position about the concerns of our players.”

Four League Strike or Lockout?  Can you imagine how dark our 2011 would be?

I have a lot to learn about this and about the NLRB rules. But needless to say, this will be a focus of the blog.

Update: Also, not sure this is particularly productive, but want to see if I can start a twitter meme: #savesports2011

Filed under: antitrust, labor law, NFLPA, salary cap, Billy Hunter, Gene Upshaw, Jeff Pash, MLB, NBA, NBAPA, NHL, Proskauer Rose, Sports Business Journal