ShareThisWhen NFL players decided to decertify as a union before they were locked out in March, they did so because it was necessary to pursue a class-action antitrust lawsuit that several players, including New England quarterback Tom Brady, filed against NFL owners.
That decision to disband transformed the former players union into a trade association, which allowed NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith to continue negotiating with owners.
With agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement between the two sides close, there is the issue of the players reforming as a union. This is almost certain to happen because both parties believe it is beneficial for them.
Most employers discourage unions from forming, but NFL owners want a players union because its existence protects the league's long-standing exemption from federal antitrust law. Owners need collective bargaining approval of a union to continue long-standing practices, such as the college draft.
For players, it has been easier to negotiate with the owners collectively rather than individually, when it comes to winning better benefits and compensation.
However, there is precedent for the league operating without a players union. The previous time the players decertified, they did not reform as a union until four years later.
The NFLPA decertified in 1989 in order to win unrestricted free agency through litigation. The players union did not reform again until 1993.
But waiting to recertify this time around does not appear to be an issue for players. It's likely to be among the conditions of a new collective bargaining agreement.
According to local labor attorneys who are not involved in the NFL negotiations, the process for the players association to recertify is simple and won't take long. The easiest way for it to happen is for the players to ask the owners for voluntary recognition.
A pair of Pittsburgh-area attorneys, Mike Healey and Joseph Pass, agree this is the likely course of action because the owners do not want to stand in the way of the players reforming as a union.
If for some reason the owners don't accept this course, the players can recertify by petitioning the National Labor Relations Board. Thirty percent of players would have to sign authorization cards, officially petition the NLRB, and finally, hold a secret ballot. In that secret ballot, a majority of players would have to agree to reform the union.
This was the way the players decertified the union last fall. Even though the NFLPA did not officially decertify until March, the voting process took place during the season when the signatures of players could be easily obtained by NFLPA team representatives.
A source within the NFLPA confirmed Friday that reforming as a union is a simple process. The most likely scenario, the source said, is that players' signatures could be obtained at training camp once the owners lift the lockout and allow the players to return to work.
(Contact Ray Fittipaldo at rfittipaldo(at)post-gazette.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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