WASHINGTON -- In a move designed to strip the NFL's shield from federal antitrust laws, the NFL Players Association has relinquished its status as the official representative of the league's players and is taking steps toward official decertification, union and NFL officials said Tuesday.
The move comes six days after the union's antitrust suit against the NFL was gutted by a ruling from a divided three-judge panel of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis.
The ruling stated the free agency provisions of the old contract between the NFL and the union cannot be challenged as a violation of federal antitrust laws simply because labor negotiations have satlled, thereby eliminating the possiblilty of monetary damages against the league.
In a Monday letter to Jack Donlan, the executive director of the NFL Management Council, the league's labor bargaining arm, NFLPA Executive Director Gene Upshaw said:
'We did not form our union to allow you to illegally restrain trade in the market for player services. The players would rather protect their rights as independent contractors than to subject themselves to the monopolistic whims of the NFL and its clubs.'
Union officials believe once the NFLPA drops its standing as the players' official representative, the league no longer would enjoy the so-called 'labor exemption' that allows the NFL and other companies to violate federal antitrust laws in contracts bargained collectively with a union certified to represent workers.
Without a shield from federal antitrust laws, the union believes the college draft, the restrictive free agency system and the standard contract binding a player to a team are subject to challenge under the Sherman Antitrust Act.
The union's action, which followed votes by the NFLPA policy-making executive committee and board of player representatives, means the organization no longer is the exclusive bargaining representative for the players for wages, hours and working conditions. It also means the NFLPA will not have the right to deal with pension, insurance, postseason and preseason pay issues.
The NFLPA, however, will not go out of business, instead will remain as a professional organization for the benefit of players, but not an official representative of players.
Donlan, in a response sent to Upshaw Monday but made public Tuesday, said he is 'disappointed' with the union action.
'We continue to believe that a resumption of negotiations would best serve the players' interests. Bargaining would offer the opportunity to provide improved benefits for players, which they indicated is their wish. It would also provide an opportunity for further review and discussion of the free agency system,' Donlan. 'I sincerely hope you will change your mind and that of your executive committee. If so, we are prepared to commence bargaining at your convenience.'
NFLPA Assistant Executive Director Doug Allen said the move should not be taken lightly by management, which he said forced the union's hand.
'It's not a panic move at all,' Allen said. 'It's basically a Hobson's choice -- an unfortunate one, but a clear one. The court has said that we can choose between bargaining benefits collectively or bargaining compensation (salaries) individually. Given the growth in salaries because of the fear of free agency and the opportunity of the USFL versus the fact that benefits haven't changed in seven years, it's a choice that mathematics makes for us.'
Union officials would not comment on whether they will seek an official decertification vote of all the players supervised by the National Labor Relations Board, the normal procedure for decertification. But one union official said that the NFLPA believes that by announcing their action to Donlan, the have de facto become decertified.
Apparently, if no other rival union springs up to take the NFLPA's place, players would have to bargaining not only for their salaries, as they already do, but for pension, benefits, insurance and other such matters.
NFL players have worked three straight seasons without a collective bargaining agreement with the league. The last contract expired Aug. 31, 1987 and the players staged a 24-day strike that fall in a failed attempt to extract contract concessions from management.
