The NFL Referees Association has finally begun to push back.
On Monday, the league leaked to the network it now partially owns a pinch of propaganda regarding the ongoing talks on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NFL and the NFLRA. On Tuesday, the journalism wing of ESPN produced a snippet from the other side.
Via Kalyn Kahler of ESPN, a January 8 letter to game officials from the union explained that “despite [multiple] meetings,” there has been “little meaningful process” on a new CBA. Added the letter, “League negotiators have been communicating misleading & incomplete info to owners and media.”
Kahler adds that one of the sticking points arises from the probationary period at the outset of an official’s career. Currently, they can be fired for poor performance without the need to show cause during the first three years of the relationship. The NFL wants it to be longer; the NFLRA wants it to be shorter.
It’s a good start for the NFLRA. But they need to do more. The NFL has the ability to push its narratives with the press of a button. The union has to be constantly ready to push back.
Hell, it needs to do more than push back. It needs to push first. The labor fight between the league and game officials needs to be viewed as a battle for the hearts and minds of media and fans. Plenty of the media, however, has already been bought.
But the league can’t buy the fans. And the NFLRA has plenty of ammunition. Starting — and ending — with what happened the last time the NFL drew a line in the toxic rubber FieldTurf pellets: The same league that gave us the Fail Mary during the 2012 lockout of officials wants to lock them out again.
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