Post by jamiebez on Jan 6, 2005 14:32:15 GMT -5
This one was inspired by Dreamcatcher's thread on the owner's attempts at breaking the union.
I have no doubt Gary Bettman is attempting to bring in replacement players in September.
Now, in order to do that, they need to apply for "impasse" with the National Labour Relations Board in the US. I never fully understood that process, so I looked up what it meant.
From www.sportslawnews.com/archive/jargon/LJImpasse.htm:
Impasse occurs when the parties negotiating a collective bargaining agreement exhaust the prospects of concluding an agreement and honestly determine that further discussions would be futile. In applying the standard, courts and the National Labor Relations Board look at factors such as the number of meetings between the parties, the length of those meetings, the importance of the issues discussed, and the period of time that has passed between the start and the breaking off of negotiations.
Once an impasse is declared, they can legally implement their last offer (called implementation), bring in the scabs and the players are screwed.
Now, I hate Gary as much as the next guy, but he is one shrewd bastard and here's why: absolutely everything he and the owners have said has pointed to the fact that they will try and declare impasse and impose their last offer on the union. Consider:
- owners are fined hugely if they say anything about the lockout. This is to show that they are negotiating in "good faith". If some owner goes to the press and says "we're thinking of bringing in scabs", that's proof they're not acting in good faith.
- they have never, EVER even discussed ANY solution but a hard cap. Different kinds of cap, sure, but every word out of their mouths is that a cap is the only solution. When the baseball owners tried to do this in '95, they made the mistake of negotiating around a luxury tax with the players for months, then got frustrated, said "cap or nothing" and took their chances with the courts. The courts weren't fooled, and the players were granted an injunction, stopping the '95 season from starting with scabs.
- they've opened their books to an independant arbitrator to prove their case for the lockout.
- Bettman has refused to give a drop-dead date for cancelling the season. A drop-dead date is only useful if you're trying to force the players back to the table. They have no interest in further negotiations, so why bother? What's more, if they cancel the season, it's more proof they're not acting in good faith. A league source said in the Ottawa Sun: "What's going to happen is the season will just go away"
- he has always said that he approached the union "three years ago", trying to get them to the table. That way, he can say to the courts: not only have we been bargaining for the last five months, we tried to talk to them three years ago!
To sum up (wow, this turned out long!):
- the PS is screwed. Bettman has totally outmanoeuvered them
- $32-36M cap (the owner's last offer)
- scabs in September, followed by 4-6 teams in jeopardy, one moving to Winnipeg in the next 1-2 years
- Gary Bettman is the devil. But I'm willing to sell my soul to him to bring back the Jets ;D
I have no doubt Gary Bettman is attempting to bring in replacement players in September.
Now, in order to do that, they need to apply for "impasse" with the National Labour Relations Board in the US. I never fully understood that process, so I looked up what it meant.
From www.sportslawnews.com/archive/jargon/LJImpasse.htm:
Impasse occurs when the parties negotiating a collective bargaining agreement exhaust the prospects of concluding an agreement and honestly determine that further discussions would be futile. In applying the standard, courts and the National Labor Relations Board look at factors such as the number of meetings between the parties, the length of those meetings, the importance of the issues discussed, and the period of time that has passed between the start and the breaking off of negotiations.
Once an impasse is declared, they can legally implement their last offer (called implementation), bring in the scabs and the players are screwed.
Now, I hate Gary as much as the next guy, but he is one shrewd bastard and here's why: absolutely everything he and the owners have said has pointed to the fact that they will try and declare impasse and impose their last offer on the union. Consider:
- owners are fined hugely if they say anything about the lockout. This is to show that they are negotiating in "good faith". If some owner goes to the press and says "we're thinking of bringing in scabs", that's proof they're not acting in good faith.
- they have never, EVER even discussed ANY solution but a hard cap. Different kinds of cap, sure, but every word out of their mouths is that a cap is the only solution. When the baseball owners tried to do this in '95, they made the mistake of negotiating around a luxury tax with the players for months, then got frustrated, said "cap or nothing" and took their chances with the courts. The courts weren't fooled, and the players were granted an injunction, stopping the '95 season from starting with scabs.
- they've opened their books to an independant arbitrator to prove their case for the lockout.
- Bettman has refused to give a drop-dead date for cancelling the season. A drop-dead date is only useful if you're trying to force the players back to the table. They have no interest in further negotiations, so why bother? What's more, if they cancel the season, it's more proof they're not acting in good faith. A league source said in the Ottawa Sun: "What's going to happen is the season will just go away"
- he has always said that he approached the union "three years ago", trying to get them to the table. That way, he can say to the courts: not only have we been bargaining for the last five months, we tried to talk to them three years ago!
To sum up (wow, this turned out long!):
- the PS is screwed. Bettman has totally outmanoeuvered them
- $32-36M cap (the owner's last offer)
- scabs in September, followed by 4-6 teams in jeopardy, one moving to Winnipeg in the next 1-2 years
- Gary Bettman is the devil. But I'm willing to sell my soul to him to bring back the Jets ;D