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NFL owners don't like union deal

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Gene Upshaw, the executive director of the NFL players union, said Friday that he expected the owners to opt out of the collective bargaining agreement after they meet Tuesday in Atlanta. If no new agreement is reached, the current deal will expire after the 2010 season, and the 2009 season will be the last played with a salary cap. If an uncapped season is played, players will have to wait six years -- instead of four -- to become free agents. The worst-case situation is still far off; three full seasons will be played before the possibility of a work stoppage. The last work stoppage was in 1987.

New York Times

Gene Upshaw, Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images Gene Upshaw, Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images
May 17, 2008  07:41 AM ET

Dont strike! I dont know what i would do without the NFL (plus the Cowboys are finely good)

May 17, 2008  09:29 AM ET

Calm down Hank. A lot can happen between now and 2010. No need to panic. Yet.

May 17, 2008  09:31 AM ET

Lets hope so, I'm not ready for fall with no football :)

May 17, 2008  09:36 AM ET

If the greed of either side leads to a work stoppage, the NFL will be dead to me.

May 17, 2008  09:43 AM ET

If the greed of either side leads to a work stoppage, the NFL will be dead to me.
mcox567 | 05/17/08, 09:36 AM

yea, sure

May 17, 2008  09:53 AM ET

If the greed of either side leads to a work stoppage, the NFL will be dead to me.

mcox567 | 05/17/08, 09:36 AM

Let's keep it on life support for a while and see what happens. Then if you're still not happy, you can pull the plug.

May 17, 2008  09:56 AM ET

Unions are a responsible for mediocrity and will lead to the down fall of the US economic system if allowed to expand. It's time to get rid of them.

May 17, 2008  11:13 AM ET

At one time, Unions were needed and had to have a place in the workforce They still do. Fair wages, benefits, child labor laws were all needed,
There comes a time though, like affirmative action, that the rules, goals and purposes, need to be re-evaluated and updated. Like any business plan or strategy, the goals or a union should change with the times. The CBA currently has a number of issues that need to be resolved, reworked and redefined so as to make it a fair agreement for all parties.
It was needed at the time, but the times, they are a changin.
The problem is, Gene Upshaw, not the union itself.

May 17, 2008  12:22 PM ET

Labor unions in this country were a godsend in the '30's, '40's and '50's but membership has been declining in America since 1983. ie: AFL-CIO. The only union seeing an increase in membership is in the service sector especially in California. Too many union members now see the Union leadership as just another form of management.

May 17, 2008  12:36 PM ET

I've never been in a union, however I have a lot of family that are in one. All I hear is negative things about how they take your money for union dues and then strike causing more financially hard ship. Thank god I'm in the military and dont have to deal with this ( for 8 more months anyway)

May 17, 2008  12:49 PM ET

yea, sure

yes, yeah sure. I have plenty of other things I can spend my time and money on. Both sides should know how damaging a work stoppage can be to a sport, just ask the NHL. If they can't look past piles of money and do what is proper for the good of the sport, then the hell with them.

I've never been in a union either Hank, but I find it hard to believe that if all they did was take money and strike, making you lose more money, that they would be as large and influential as they are. That's just common sense.

May 17, 2008  01:01 PM ET

Mu mother belonged to a union, the international paper workers union. Their contract expired in November. The union urged its members one year to strike while they negotiated a new contract with management. While my mother and her co-workers were picketing the plant in November in New England, the union and management were hammering out a new contract in Bermuda. Yeah, unions are there for the benefit of their members. Yeah, right. Who payed for the trip to Bermuda? You guessed it, the money came out of union dues.

May 17, 2008  01:02 PM ET

@ MCox567 The NFL will never lose the fanbase the way the NHL did, its to big and has to big of a fan base.

As for unions, there so large and influential because you have no choice then to join them.

Comment has been removed
May 17, 2008  01:19 PM ET

Unions are a responsible for mediocrity and will lead to the down fall of the US economic system if allowed to expand. It's time to get rid of them.
Harry Chub | 05/17/08, 09:56 AM

You are an idiot.

May 17, 2008  01:49 PM ET

UAW is an example of a union gone wrong.

As far as the current CBA, I think the best thing they could do is put in a rookie salary scale. It would benefit every team, because they could spend money paying the vets who have actually done something on the field.

Someone should go to Wikipedia and look at the drafts for the past 10 years. Look at the "can't miss" prospects and tell me if they deserved the guaranteed money.

"I'm looking forward to a 15 year career, a couple of trips to the Super Bowl, and a parade through downtown San Diego" - Ryan Leaf, signed to a 4 year contract worth $31.25 million, including a guaranteed $11.25 million, at the time, the largest signing bonus ever paid to a rookie.

Did he deserve a penny of it?

May 17, 2008  02:12 PM ET

Gene - I think it would be best if you "opt" out of your job !!!

May 17, 2008  02:17 PM ET

Hank - It doesn't matter to me how big the NFL's fanbase is, nor how successful they are - if they act like idiots, I'll stop supporting them. Whether anyone else does or not is up to them and also means nothing to me.

No choice? I've worked in public education for 5 years now and have not joined the union, and teacher's unions are arguably one of the largest and most influential. You always have a choice.

May 17, 2008  02:39 PM ET

Hank - It doesn't matter to me how big the NFL's fanbase is, nor how successful they are - if they act like idiots, I'll stop supporting them. Whether anyone else does or not is up to them and also means nothing to me.

No choice? I've worked in public education for 5 years now and have not joined the union, and teacher's unions are arguably one of the largest and most influential. You always have a choice.
mcox567 | 05/17/08, 02:17 PM

Understand, to each his own! have a good one

 
May 17, 2008  02:58 PM ET

mcox567,
There was a time in this country when you were beaten with whatever was handy at the time if you didn't join the union.
Even today if you expect to get hired to get a job doing electrical work, you'd better join the union.
Good thing you went into teaching and had a choice.

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