No Super Bowl Payoff for Hyatt Housekeepers
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In a radio ad airing on Indianapolis-area stations during Super Bowl week, UNITEHERE! reminds listeners one of the first things many young NFL players do after signing a first contract is “buy their mom a house, or build her a new kitchen or let her retire.”
Many NFL players were raised by moms who cleaned houses, cleaned hotels or cleaned both. We all have a special place in our heart for the women of Indianapolis who do that work.
The commercial (click here to listen) to raise awareness about hardworking hotel housekeepers is airing at the same time housekeepers at the Hyatt Regency Indianapolis are fighting to keep their jobs and boost their poverty-level pay at a hotel where rates can be more than $1,000 a night for a room during Super Bowl week.
Last month after area hotel workers filed a federal lawsuit alleging wage and hour violations against Hyatt subcontractor Hospitality Staffing Solutions (HSS) and 10 downtown hotels, including the Hyatt Regency Indianapolis, Hyatt announced that it would cut ties with HSS, according to UNITEHERE .
Players Assoc. Says Indiana Should Sack ‘Right to Work’ Bill
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The NFL Players Association (NFLPA) today urged the Indiana state legislature to reject a so-called right to work bill that the union says is a “political ploy designed to destroy basic workers’ rights. It’s not about jobs or rights.”
As Indianapolis proudly prepares to host the Super Bowl, it should be a time to shine in the national spotlight and highlight the hard-working families that make Indiana run instead of launching political attacks on their basic rights.
In a statement released this morning, the NLFPA says, “As NFL players, we know our success on the field comes from working together as a team.”
We’re not just a team of football players—we’re also the fans at games and at home, the employees who work the concession stands and the kids who wear the jerseys of our favorite football heroes. NFL players know what it means to fight for workers’ rights, better pensions and health and safety in the workplace. To win, we have to work together and look out for one another.
NFL Lockout Lifted, Players to Vote on Settlement This Week
NFL players, who have been locked out since March 11, will return to work starting this week after the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) Executive Board and the 32 team representatives voted to approve the terms of a settlement with the owners.
As players report to team facilities this week, they will vote on the settlement, along with a vote to recertify the NFLPA as a union. The NFLPA renounced its status as a union in March to take legal anti-trust action against the owners’ lockout.
Also yesterday, the NFLPA Executive Board voted to recommend a settlement in the anti-trust suit (Brady et al v. NFL) against the league by 10 players. NFLPA President Kevin Mawae says the negotiations have “been a long road for everyone involved.”
While it is not yet over, the diligence demonstrated by active and former players speaks volumes to their dedication to reaching a fair deal. This settlement is an essential component to what will be a long-term agreement benefitting players, owners and fans. Read the rest of this entry »
NFL Owners’ Lockout Hits Workers, Players and Communities
In Orchard Park, N.Y., just about 600 yards from the Buffalo Bills’ Ralph Wilson Stadium, where as many as 73,000 football fans gather on fall Sundays, sits the Big Tree Inn. Owner Dan DeMarco tells ESPN.com those Sundays account for 30 percent of his annual revenue.
But with the NFL season in jeopardy because of the owners’ lockout of the players, DeMarco says he and his 12 employees are “just praying.”
Everybody says “there’s only eight or nine home games,” but people don’t realize that a home-game crowd starts showing up on Thursdays and pours into Mondays. People flock in from out of town and fill the motels around here. They give us four or five days of business every home game.
DeMarco is one of 13 “Faces of Lockout” from players on the bubble, to local business owners, team employees and headline players profiled in ESPN.com’s just-posted look at the lockout’s impact.
Earlier this year it was estimated that if the lockout goes into the season, each NFL city stands to lose as much as $160 million and it could cost 150,000 jobs nationwide and have a ripple effect on how other workers across the country are treated, according to people who labor on the field and in the stadiums.
Judge Orders NFL Owners to Lift Lockout
In a major win for the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) and a stern rebuke to league owners, U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson told owners to lift the lockout they imposed on players March 12.
NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith said “I’m happy for our players and for our fans. Those who love football are the winners.” The NFLPA renounced its status as a union in March order to take legal anti-trust action against the owners’ lockout.
In her 89-page ruling Nelson wrote that the players:
have made a strong showing that allowing the league to continue their “lockout” is presently inflicting and will continue to inflict irreparable harm upon them, particularly when weighed against the lack of any real injury that would be imposed on the NFL by issuing the preliminary injunction. The public interest favors the enforcement of the antitrust laws and their underlying pro-competition policy.
New York Giants defensive lineman Osi Umenyiora, one of 12 player plaintiffs in the anti-trust suit against the NFL, said the ruling:
is a win for the players and for the fans that want to see a full NFL season in 2011. The lockout is bad for everyone and players will continue to fight it. We hope that this will bring us one step closer to playing the game we love. Read the rest of this entry »
Judge Orders NFL Teams to Stop Reducing Workers’ Comp for Ex-Players
In a landmark ruling, U.S. Judge Paul Crotty of the Southern District of New York issued an injunction today requiring all NFL teams and owners to stop seeking to reduce the workers’ compensation benefits due to former NFL players as a result of injuries they suffered while playing the game.
While the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) won an earlier ruling on this issue, teams and owners ignored the decision on workers’ compensation cases around the country. On March 11, the NFLPA renounced its status as a union in order to block a lockout by the owners.
The AFL-CIO, especially through its state organizations, fights to protect and improve workers’ compensation laws to ensure that workers who suffer because of their jobs have adequate medical care and income. Not only are the owners trying to cut workers’ comp, during the lockout, NFL players and their families do not have health care benefits.
Audit Shows NFL Owners Using Misleading Revenue Figures
It turns out that the National Football League has been using misleading and incomplete financial information to convince team owners that NFL players are getting paid too much. Throughout contract talks with the NFL Players Association (NFLPA), the league and the owners kept saying the players received 70 percent of new revenues in salaries.
But now, Howard Fendrich, the Associated Press’ pro football writer, reveals that the players’ actual share was only about 53 percent from 2006 to 2009, according to calculations by the accounting firm that audited the collective bargaining agreement for both sides. Read Fendrich’s article here.
Like OPEC, NFL Owners a Cartel of Rich Seeking Even More, Plus New Players’ Website
Just what is behind the National Football League (NFL) owners’ lockout of the players this past weekend when talks for a new collective bargaining agreement broke off? James Surowiecki of The New Yorker writes in this week’s edition:
It’s about very rich businessmen thinking that they should be even richer.
He says that “With the possible exception of the members of OPEC, N.F.L. owners have pretty much the coziest business arrangement imaginable”
They’re effectively members of a cartel—able to limit competition, enhance bargaining power, and hold down costs. Instead of competing against each other for TV money, the owners share it, reducing risk and guaranteeing steady revenue regardless of how well they run their teams. The result of all this was nicely summed up by Richard Walden, head of sports finance at JPMorgan Chase, who said, “I’ve never seen an N.F.L. team lose money.” Read the rest of this entry »
NFL Players Renounce Union Status to Block Lockout
After nearly three weeks of negotiations with NFL team owners and the assistance of a federal mediator failed to result in a fair, new collective bargaining agreement, the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) this afternoon renounced its status as a union in order to block a lockout by the owners. The NFL left the players no choice.
The players believe their best course of action now is to file individual antitrust suits against the owners if there is a lockout, which they could not have done unless they relinquished union representation in the contract talks.
You can show your support for the players, fans and stadium workers by signing a petition here.
Join a Live Chat on NFL Contract Talks Today
Baltimore Ravens receiver Derrick Mason will hold a live chat with football fans about the ongoing contract talks between team owners and the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) today at 2 p.m. You can join in the discussion at www.nflplayers.com.
