NFL involved in wage dispute

On Behalf of | May 31, 2012 | Wage And Hour Laws |

Despite what occurred during the 2011 season, professional football has meant a great deal to people in the Indianapolis area for close to two decades. Yet continued labor disputes between the NFL and the player’s union threaten to bring the game to a halt.

In a wage claim dispute, the player’s union alleges that the NFL implemented a secret salary cap during 2010 that may have cost the players more than $1 billion. The NFL counters that the union has no grounds for filing such a lawsuit. The union, the NFL contends, is not allowed to file such a contract under the collective bargaining agreement signed between the two parties.

There have already been a number of court rulings that seem to favor one side or the other. However, tracing the precise source of such disputes may be difficult. There already has been the allegation of collusion in this matter where the union has accused the NFL of conspiring to prevent the employees’ demands from being met.

Labor disputes are often extremely complex, and this is particularly true when we are discussing a multi-billion dollar business. Contractual language of collective bargaining agreements are often riddled with fine print that only a labor attorney may understand. There often is a great deal of paperwork to sift through to see if the conditions of such agreements have actually been complied with. And there is negotiation between the parties that can often seem endless.

Though we are speaking of high dollar negotiations here, what is occurring is not so different from other labor disputes. What is often forgotten when speaking of negotiations between labor unions and corporations is the individual employee that is dependent upon the job to support their family. There is often haggling going on concerning both sides, and someone such as an employment attorney does need to be there to represent the needs of each individual worker.

Source: Yahoo! Sports, “NFL union files suit against league over 2010 cap,” by Barry Wilner, May 23, 2012

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