I posted this in another thread:
If you look at a possible player walkout, the players have no leverage. In Article 3 of the NFL CBA (below), the players have agreed not to strike.
Except as otherwise provided in Article 47 (Union Security), Section 6, neither the NFLPA nor any of its members will engage in any strike, work stoppage, or other concerted action interfering with the operations of the NFL or any Club for the duration of this Agreement, and no Clubs, either individually or in concert with other Clubs, will engage in any lockout for the duration of this Agreement. Any claim that a party has violated this Section 1 will not be subject to the grievance procedure or the arbitration provisions of this Agreement and the party will have the right to submit such claim directly to the courts.
Article 47, section 6 C talks of courts invalidating the CBA:
It is further agreed that notwithstanding anything else in this Agreement, if at any time in the term of the Agreement, any court or agency shall wholly or partially invalidate the provisions of this Article relating to Union Security, then the NFLP A may reopen this Agreement upon the giving of 10 days' written notice, with reference solely to the issue of Union Security, and both parties will have an obligation to resume negotiations limited to the issue of Union Security, and both parties will be free to engage in whatever concerted or other action may be permitted by law in support of their positions.
So, in my interpretation, the players have to get the CBA in court, and a judge has to invalidate it, and then they could possibly strike. The NFL lawyers have taken any leverage away from the players, preventing them from walking out. Of course, the players could still do so, but they would have no legal right to, and they could be ordered back on the job by the courts.
It seems as if the NFL got the players to ratify the CBA, and then they turned their lawyers loose on the NFLRA. The NFL believes, rightly, that fans will watch games no matter what type of officiating is going on. It has unfortunately become part of the reason to watch. The players, perhaps the officials only ally, can do little but stand by and watch. Or can they?
The NFLPA has issued a statement, which reads:
The NFL Players Association Executive Committee is calling on you to end the lockout of our referees. We believe there is substantial evidence that you have failed in your obligation to provide as safe a working environment as possible.
Your decision to lock out officials with more than 1,500 years of collective NFL experience has led to a deterioration of order, safety and integrity. This affirmative decision has not only resulted in poor calls, missed calls and bad game management, but the combination of those deficiencies will only continue to jeopardize player health and safety and the integrity of the game that has taken decades to build.
As we predicted and explained to you weeks ago, the removal of the veteran officials from regular season games left a group of your replacements who have proved to be incapable of keeping pace with the speed of the game. Coaches and players have complained of numerous errors and failures including: erratic and missed calls on egregious holds and hits, increased skirmishes between players and confusion about game rules. Many replacements have lost control of games due to inexperience and unfamiliarity with players and rules.
The headlines are embarrassing: a scab working a game despite having been on the payroll of one of the teams, another who was assigned to referee a team he publicly supported on Facebook, and one who is a professional poker player when you propose even more stringent player rules on gambling.
It is lost on us as to how you allow a Commissioner to cavalierly issue suspensions and fines in the name of player health and safety yet permit the wholesale removal of the officials that you trained and entrusted to maintain that very health and safety. It has been reported that the two sides are apart by approximately $60,000 per team. We note that your Commissioner has fined an individual player as much in the name of “safety.” Your actions are looking more and more like simple greed. As players, we see this game as more than the “product” you reference at times. You cannot simply switch to a group of cheaper officials and fulfill your legal, moral, and duty obligations to us and our fans. You need to end the lockout and bring back the officials immediately.
We are all men who love and respect this game and believe that it represents something beyond just money. For our teammates, our coaches and our fans who deserve better, vote to end this lockout now.
Perhaps this is the first legal domino to fall for the players. The players may begin to sweep the leaves to the pile in order have some sort of solidarity walkout. It seems unlikely, but perhaps it's the only option. Clearly, the NFL isn't interested in fixing the situation, regardless of what is said or written. Actions speak louder than words.
