NFL Union History

The National Football League has a long history with its union of players. The union was formed due to the poor conditions involving health care and threats to an individuals livelihood if injury occurred. Over the course of time, a number of events, such as strikes and litigation, eventually established the fundamental benefits that players enjoy to this day.

  1. History

    • In 1956, both the Green Bay Packers and the Cleveland Browns formed a union. It was soon joined by a number of famous players from around the league, including Don Shula, Frank Gifford, John Gordy, Sam Huff and Norm Van Brocklin. The players collected union authorization cards and demanded a meeting with the team owners. After the owners declined their requests, Creighton Miller, a lawyer, was hired to bring an antitrust lawsuit against the league.

    Considerations

    • In 1957, a separate lawsuit was heard by the U.S. Supreme Court. Radovich v. National Football League ruled that the NFL was not subject to protection from antitrust laws. Five years earlier, the Supreme Court ruled that Major League Baseball could not be held to antitrust laws. This caused three justices to dissent from the ruling. However, the fact that this case occurred at the same time the union was forming caused the team owners to agree to hold talks.

    Function

    • The main goals of the NFL union were to establish a minimum salary for all players and a guarantee of their salaries in the event of injury or disability. It also demanded that the clubs themselves pay for the expense to maintain uniforms and equipment and also offer per diem pay. The owners agreed to these provisions and ultimately also established a pension plan for athletes. However, the owners also refused to recognize the association as an official union and declined to enter into true collective bargaining negotiations.

    Features

    • The NFL Players Association was officially established at this time; however, it took a number of years before the organization decided how to handle its membership. The debate primarily revolved around whether it should be considered merely a grievance committee or make the move to full unionization. Creighton Miller challenged the owners with the threat of litigation rather than unionizing. The associations presidents Pete Retzlaff and Bernie Parrish pushed to affiliate with both the AFL-CIO and the Teamsters. In 1968, Miller stepped down from his position as executive director.

    Size

    • When the merger between the NFL and AFL was announced in 1966, the player's association pushed back, feeling threatened by a loss of power. However, the two groups merged in 1970 to form a complete union and became federally recognized by the National Labor Relations Board. The collective bargaining agreement established with the ownership updated the previous conditions for players as well as adding dental insurance and arbitration provisions.

    Effects

    • The union eventually carried out two strikes over the course of its history. In 1982, a disagreement occurred between the union and the ownership. At question was the percentage of gross receipts the players received. The union wanted the percentage increased to 55 percent. The strike began on September 21 and lasted until November 16. A second strike occurred in 1987 that lasted for 4 weeks. However, this strike ended and went to litigation. The main purpose of these events was to establish a system of free agency in which players could eventually choose which team for which they would like to play.