Failure

In order for collective bargaining negotiations to be mutually successful (i.e., reaching an agreement), there needs to be a certain level of trust between labor and management. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a widget factory or professional sports, all forms of collective bargaining share common principles. While it is an adversarial process with all the formalities of posturing, both sides need to believe that the process of negotiation will pave the way toward an agreement. Competing interests can often lead to frayed tempers and heated arguments but as long as both sides remain committed to resolving their differences through face-to-face negotiation an agreement is possible. It’s only natural that each side in a collective bargaining agreement demands the most favorable terms, but businesses have to make money and workers need to get paid a decent wage for the model to work. Ideally, both sides acknowledge their mutual dependence. A deal that is “fair” to both accomplishes that end. A reasoned approach understands that there’s give-and-take in any negotiation. If one or both sides remain intransigent in their demands chances are dim that common ground can be found at the bargaining table. Nobody ever wins in the case of a strike or a lockout.

With the popularity of the NFL at an all-time high, most observers would conclude that it’s simply common sense that reasonable people on both sides could find a way of getting a deal done face-to-face and allowing business to proceed as usual. Instead, they seem determined to kill the goose that laid the golden eggs. Ultimately, it is the consumer that pays the price for such folly.

In the NFL-NFLPA negotiations, there was never any trust between the parties, so why even bother going through the motions? As always, it comes down to the Almighty Buck. The owners opted out of the existing CBA two years early because they determined that the existing deal favored the players. They were then caught red-handed trying to inflate their war chests by having the networks and satellite providers pay rights fees even in the event of a lockout. Further, they demanded that a more equitable cut of the $9 billion dollar pie. In return, the players demanded independently verified financials from all the clubs as conclusive proof that the owners were losing money under the existing CBA. All the ancillary issues (rookie cap, 18-game regular season, improved health and pension benefits) are just window dressing.

Both sides had ample opportunity (two years) to address all of the relevant issues, so there is really no excuse that consumers had to be subjected to the disingenuous spin game to which we were treated on Friday the 11th. When both sides should have been engaging in substantive talks it now seems that they were merely using the mediated sessions as a pretext for litigation.

At 5:00 on Friday, the NFLPA elected to walk away from mediation and decertify, setting the stage for a flood of lawsuits designed to obtain a more favorable result through antitrust litigation. The NFL responded by locking out the players. It is a failure anytime parties are unable to resolve their differences at the table, especially so when the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service has availed its resources to resolve the issues. Who’s to blame here? What was actually accomplished during the lengthy mediated bargaining sessions? Without the benefit of actually sitting in on the negotiations, football fans are unsure of which side to believe and are the ultimate losers in this tug of war between players and owners. Predictably, it didn’t take long for the inevitable finger-pointing to start.

At this point it’s pointless for fans to try to figure out which party is primarily at fault, though for the union to decertify (“to cease operations as the collective bargaining representative of the players”) and roll the dice in court is a drastic measure. It does seem to run counter to the principles which once made the labor movement in America a great success for improving the economic standing of working families (though that seems long ago). For some of us who maintain an abiding respect for organized labor, it rings hollow for a union to legally disband when it’s convenient only to reorganize after obtaining more favorable terms as individuals. Too many people fought too hard over the last eighty years or so to see this type of charade done in the name of labor. Either it’s a union or it’s not, take your pick.

It’s worth noting that the provisions of the current CBA have been under the supervision of US District Court Judge David Doty in Minnesota since 1993, and he has generally ruled in favor of the NFLPA whenever contested provisions have been brought before the Court. But now, the NFLPA is no more than a “trade association” and individual plaintiffs (Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, et al) will now challenge the CBA on antitrust grounds. They will use the Supreme Court’s American Needle v. NFL decision (standing for the proposition that the NFL is comprised of 32 separate businesses) to argue that the League cannot impose uniform work rules without violating federal antitrust statutes. The NFL will counter by arguing that the PA’s decision to decertify was a “sham” and on and on it goes.

So rather than getting excited over the opening of free agency and preparing for the Draft (which will still be conducted in late April), the legal wrangling will commence on April 6th in Judge Doty’s courtroom. What a disgrace.

As consumers of this highly-profitable product, we are entitled to better than being drawn into a labor/management dispute which will drain already precious judicial resources. Our courts, judges and staffs have far more pressing business to which to attend than to referee a collective bargaining matter in which the parties appear not to have entered in good faith. One side seemed to be intent on imposing a lockout while the other chose a litigious strategy before showing up at the bargaining table. Shame on both sides.

Ultimately, the framework on how to proceed will be established through the competing lawsuits and the NFLPA will re-certify and they’ll go back to the table where they’ll reach an agreement. There’s simply too much money at stake and the players won’t sit still once the checks don’t show up on time.

Make no mistake, faithful reader, the cost of this folly will be borne by the consumer, whether one buys a ticket or not. Professional football is primarily television driven, and people really don’t care other than wanting their football on Sunday afternoons and Monday nights in the fall. One way or the other, the NFL will be more profitable and the players will be paid more. Who pays? The increased cost to advertisers will be passed along to consumers in higher prices for goods. One may argue that the cost of doing business would increase regardless of whether a CBA was negotiated or litigated. Despite the protestations of both sides, no regard was given the consumer. If such were the case, chances are things would've never gotten this far.

The winner is yet to be determined, but the losers are already clear—the consumer.