NFL Labor Talks: What Does Union Decertification Mean for the NFL and NFLPA?

[Omaha Steve]

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/485031-nfl-labor-talks-what-does-union-decertification-mean-for-the-nfl-and-nflpa

By Tom Dale (Steelers Featured Columnist) on October 7, 2010

Yesterday, the players on the Pittsburgh Steelers were the latest to join nine other teams in voting to decertify the National Football Leagues' Players Association (NFLPA).

While the history of the NFLPA dates back into the 1950s, it was in the 1970s that the player's union had the resources to engage the NFL in meaningful court actions to represent its constituents interests when necessary.

In 1987, the NFL and NFLPA reached an impasse while negotiating a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), resulting in the player's union voting in the early spring to authorize a strike.

The response of the NFL's owners was to move forward with the season by replenishing their rosters with players from the defunct United States Football League (USFL), college players who hadn't made NFL teams, etc.

Additionally, about 15 percent of the union's membership crossed the picket lines and returned to their teams. This is commonly referred to as the "scab" season in reference to those players who decided to participate in the season.

By the third week of the 1987 season, the player's union realized that ownership was committed to it strategy of using replacement players, and voted to end the strike and return to their teams. That same day, the NFLPA filed an antitrust lawsuit (Powell v. NFL) which it won, but was ultimately overturned in 1989 on appeal by the NFL.

FULL story at link.