Report: NFL Has Plan If Work Stoppage Occurs
NEW YORK (AP) — The NFL reportedly has laid out a plan for its employees if there is a work stoppage next year after the contract with the players expires.
Fox Sports reported Sunday that the plan would include unpaid leaves of absence and pay cuts, depending on how long games are not played in 2011.
The league would not confirm any details in the Fox report.
"Our employees are aware both of the strident comments coming from the NFLPA leadership for more than a year and the union's current actions to position itself to decertify and go out of business," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello told The Associated Press in an e-mail. "Our employees want to know what we would do if, despite our best good-faith efforts, no agreement is reached. Our primary focus remains on negotiating a new agreement as soon as possible."
Union spokesman George Atallah noted that the owners opted out of the collective bargaining agreement with the players in 2008; it expires in March and little progress has been made in negotiating sessions.
"It's a shame that the NFL would put even more jobs at stake," Atallah said of league employees other than the players. "Neither the players, nor the employees that would be affected by this across the country, asked for this."
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.
