zulater
03-11-2011, 06:59 PM
The ball is now in someone else's court.
That would be the courtroom of Judge David Doty in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis after the National Football League and its Players Association failed on Friday to come up with either a labor agreement or another extension of it to continue negotiations.
The NFLPA filed to decertify as a union moments before the current collective bargaining agreement expired at 5 p.m. Friday. That ended its rights to further negotiate a labor agreement for the players and the federal courts will now decide what happens next.
While a lockout of the players by NFL owners is almost universally expected, they have not yet taken such action but may do so soon.
"We're going to make that decision in the next 24 hours," Steelers president Art Rooney said by phone before leaving Washington to return to Pittsburgh this evening. "I would say we're probably headed in that direction."
Rooney is a member of the 10-man management council executive committee and has been in Washington as part of the ownership group negotiating with the players. That committee has been given authority by the 32 NFL owners to rule on a lockout.
Rooney called the end of negotiations today "very disappointing."
"When we got [an] extension last week I thought maybe we'd get something done. Unfortunately I think the players chose to throw everything into the lawyers' hands at this point and unfortunately that's where we're going to be for some time period."
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11070/1131340-100.stm#ixzz1GLIqpVsf
That would be the courtroom of Judge David Doty in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis after the National Football League and its Players Association failed on Friday to come up with either a labor agreement or another extension of it to continue negotiations.
The NFLPA filed to decertify as a union moments before the current collective bargaining agreement expired at 5 p.m. Friday. That ended its rights to further negotiate a labor agreement for the players and the federal courts will now decide what happens next.
While a lockout of the players by NFL owners is almost universally expected, they have not yet taken such action but may do so soon.
"We're going to make that decision in the next 24 hours," Steelers president Art Rooney said by phone before leaving Washington to return to Pittsburgh this evening. "I would say we're probably headed in that direction."
Rooney is a member of the 10-man management council executive committee and has been in Washington as part of the ownership group negotiating with the players. That committee has been given authority by the 32 NFL owners to rule on a lockout.
Rooney called the end of negotiations today "very disappointing."
"When we got [an] extension last week I thought maybe we'd get something done. Unfortunately I think the players chose to throw everything into the lawyers' hands at this point and unfortunately that's where we're going to be for some time period."
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11070/1131340-100.stm#ixzz1GLIqpVsf