Players Rectify Union in Labor Talks - Ingles

It’s on to the next step for the NFL and its players, who are getting closer to a full-fledged collective bargaining agreement.

“The NFL and NFLPA staffs have been working for the past few days on the final details of the new CBA,” league spokesman Greg Aiello wrote in an email to The Associated Press on Saturday.

A person familiar with the negotiations confirmed to the AP that the NFL Players Association already re-established itself as a union. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because no announcement had been made by the NFLPA.

Re-establishing the union was a key step needed to finish a CBA after the main parts of the deal to end the NFL’s 4 1/2 -month lockout were agreed to by owners on July 21 and by players on Monday. Only a union can negotiate items such as drug testing, player conduct policy and disability and pension programs.

For the lockout to remain lifted and the season to proceed, those issues must be resolved and a full CBA completed by Thursday, a deadline both sides are confident will be met.

In March, when federally mediated talks in Washington between owners and players broke down and the old CBA expired, the NFLPA said it was dissolving itself as a union and instead becoming a trade association. That move allowed the players to sue the league under antitrust law, and 10 did, including Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees. That case was settled as part of the deal the sides have agreed to.

But by decertifying, the NFLPA gave up its right to bargain on behalf of all players under labor law. That’s why the union needed to form again in order to complete a CBA.

Once the CBA is fully squared away, veteran free agents who have signed new contracts in the past few days will be allowed to practice with their teams. Those players are currently allowed to attend team meetings, work out individually and watch—but not participate—in practice. (source Howard Fendrich Yahoosports.com)