Chapter 559: Union shutdown

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For the four major sports leagues throughout the United States, 2011 is an extremely important year. Both the NFL and the NBA, Lu Ke missed it with regret, and Curry became one of them.
In the United States, the NFL is the boss of its own way, and the other three alliances are almost at the forefront. Therefore, the wind and grass in the NFL will inevitably affect the interests of the other three alliances. This is also the case this year. On March 11, the NFL officially announced the suspension, entering the stagnation period of salary negotiations, and the suspension of the nation ’s largest interest pool, triggering a tsunami-like chain reaction.
The root of the NFL shutdown should be traced back to three years ago, on August 20, 2008, on this day, Gene-Upshaw died.
For the NFL players, they not only lost a former top left guard, two-time Super Bowl winner, and the Oakland Raiders' generation reputation; more importantly, they lost a good leader. Since being called the President of the Players' Union in 1983, Apshaw has contributed all the time of his life and made every effort to strive for more benefits for the players.
Although in the two negotiations with the team in 1987 and 1993, due to the wrong timing, the player union missed many rights and opportunities, and was passive, so that the entire league has been paying for it since then. After eating for a while, Apshaw became a vital presence in the league.
In the twenty-five years, he helped hundreds of retired players get their pensions. He changed many provisions of the labor agreement, forcing the team owners to use more funds from each season's proceeds to give back to the players .
There is no doubt that in the history of the NFL, his great achievements can be called the top ranks; moreover, in his negotiations with the team and the league, he is always tough and not losing wisdom, always fighting for more rights for the players .
A few days after Apshaw ’s death, the owners of the NFL ’s 32 teams voted. According to the labor agreement at the time, they chose not to set a salary cap in the 2010 season. The labor agreement will be terminated early after the end of the 2011 season.
In other words, the team and the players must sign a new labor agreement. For the team bosses, Apshaw ’s death means that the player union will fall into a state of headlessness. The chaotic union cannot resist the boss ’s strength, which also makes the boss in the negotiation of a new labor agreement. Will have the absolute upper hand
Re-dividing the cake, everyone is about to move.
In just two years, DeMaurice-Smith, the newly-appointed chairman, tried his best to mediate, but his ability finally failed to withstand the powerful influence of Apshaw. The boss started negotiations. In early 2011, after the Super Bowl ended in February, the boss's wishful thinking was still steadily implemented as planned.
As with all the lockout process, the two parties went through a long but similar process: negotiation, veto, change the floor, negotiate again, and veto, then the bosses announced the closure and informed all players:
"The league is shut down. Now the players have no game and no money to make, and during this period, it is best not to look for sideline casually. If injured, the existing contract will be ruined after the lockout ends."
In the end, the two sides broke up and reached a deadlock.
On March 11, the negotiations between the two sides broke down again, and the NFL announced that it officially entered a lockout period.
In fact, in the history of American professional sports, there have been countless lockouts, and a law has never changed, that is: the boss always has the upper hand.
Because in the final analysis, after the lockout, the billionaire bosses have enough patience to wait slowly. Their biggest expense-player salary, because the lockout can temporarily stop paying, and other costs are only a small amount for them.
But the players are different, the salary is their entire income, and the advertising expenses are also caught in the mud with the deadlock of the game. After the lockout time is extended, they will be unable to bear. After all, the superstars who can stand at the top of the pyramid are still a few in the league.
But the 2011 NFL is a special case, this time, the players have the upper hand.
In the end, it only took 132 days. Before the start of the new season, the lockout ended, and even the preseason had no effect. It can be said that it is calm and calm, because all the players are united, Challenged the team owner.
After the termination of the player union negotiations, the NFL players withdrew the player union license, which means that they do not have to resolve the issue through the union, and then use their own power to file a complaint with the local court to let the power of the law promote the stalled negotiations.
More importantly, the players clearly know that the NFL is currently the most profitable sports league in the world. Although they do not know how rich the bosses ’
daily fighting gold
is, they are sure , They will not watch all the profits just put in the water.
Originally, the players were in a weak position, but this time in the lockout, they took the correct tough stance:
First, they are not greedy, they just fight for the benefits they deserve and win sympathy in public opinion; second, the bosses have been labeled as "stingy ghosts" and "black boxes" throughout the negotiation process in the past two years "Operation" label, which provides more breaking points for the media.
So, when the Minnesota District Court went through consecutive hearings to force the announcement that the NFL league must restart negotiations, in fact, the players have already won. In the past, players could only speak when the boss nodded; now, they have won the possibility of equal dialogue. In the end, both parties achieved a win-win situation and signed a contract with a validity of ten years.
According to the new agreement, the team owner will receive 52% of the annual income, while the players will be 48%. In the previous labor agreement, the boss ’s income is only 4% Seventeenth, this is the reason why bosses gritt their teeth. The increase in income percentage is undoubtedly the most satisfying point for bosses.
In this respect, the bosses have won the negotiations, and Apshaw ’s death will still have a huge impact.
But the players also get what they want. The team must increase the salary cap limit. The new cap is 120 million US dollars; at the same time, it must also give 20 million US dollars as player benefits. Raising the salary cap means that most players ’salaries will not be cut, and they will also get more guaranteed contracts.
This is the most direct and urgent demand for the players.
Therefore, when NFL President Roger Goodell and Player Union President De Morris Smith jointly announced, "Rugby is back!" This is a victory for the team and the players.
So, who lost?
Rookies.
Both the team and the player have won their own interests, the wool must be out of the sheep, this group of lambs to be slaughtered are rookies.
In this negotiation, the interests of rookie players were completely sold out, which is also the concessions made by the players to the strong team owners.
According to the latest agreement, the draft contract's first contract amount can only be half of the previous contract. Last year's No. 1 pick, Sam Bradford easily got a six-year US $ 78 million rookie contract, including a 50 million guarantee contract; and this year's No. 1 pick, Cam Newton Only four years, twenty-two million, the contrast gap is too obvious.
In addition, the reduction in the amount of rookie contracts also affects the broker's income. According to the new agreement, the agent ’s contribution to rookie players has been reduced from 3% to 2%.
Those who are sacrificed always have no say.
However, the positive factor is that as long as the rookie players can perform well, after leaving the rookie contract, their income will increase exponentially. Overall, the team owners have earned more income, but the increase in the salary cap has also given players more salary space, and the two sides have indeed achieved a win-win situation.
July has just begun, and the NFL lockout officially ended. It has little impact on this year ’s season. It just canceled the annual warm-up hall of fame duel.
In other words, as a rookie who just joined the league, Lu Ke has not been able to find a team that accepts himself, and the lockout is over, so Lu Ke has not participated in it at all.
But Curry is different.
After witnessing the success of the NFL's lockout, this year's NBA, which is also facing the expiration of the labor agreement, has also entered the footsteps.
On May 27, 2011, the NBA Players Union formally filed a lawsuit with the US labor arbitration agency, accusing the NBA of using intimidation and threats in the new labor negotiations, forcing the player union to sign new contracts that are not good for the players. Labor-management agreement; after that, the two parties conducted several negotiations. After all, they failed to reach a consensus, and finally, officially closed on July 1.
Interestingly, the NBA closely follows the footsteps of the NFL, and even the strategy adopted during the shutdown is basically the same. Eventually, the NFL has achieved gratifying results, and the NBA has also injected a dose of strong needles, looking forward to winning more Player interests.
However, when the NFL closed its lockout, ESPN sports experts pointed out:
The NFL case is not applicable to the NBA. Fans should not think that the NBA will use the NFL model to usher in a Hollywood-style fairy tale ending. Because the NFL has the advantage in the hands of the players throughout the lockout process, but in the NBA battle, the bosses are and refuse any compromise.
The facts also proved that this view is correct. The NBA bosses always refused to compromise. The procrastinating negotiation progress has always seen no improvement. Eventually, it missed the season unveiling time and continued until the end of November. All negotiations officially ended the shutdown.
On December 9, the free market and training camp were officially opened; on December 25, the first game of the season was officially opened.
For the young Curry, he could not help at all during the negotiations, and was trapped in his own injuries. After experiencing the storms of the entire league, his mood inevitably fluctuated and wobbled until now Curry finally began to prepare for the season opener, so Lu Ke would have the question just now.
"It's not as exciting as expected, but ... it's still getting excited," Curry said.