And the law firm that represents the NHL, NBA, NFL and MLB in labor disputes is…

by  •  • 2 Comments

Donald Fehr Holds Tight to His Composure and His Principles – NYTimes.com

Fehr has often spoken of a new “playbook” for sports leagues, in which they impose salary caps and lock out players to force them to accept pay cuts. [...] Fehr said “the same people” are behind these tactics “regardless of the sport” — a reference to the Proskauer Rose law firm, which represents the N.H.L., the N.F.L., the N.B.A. and Major League Baseball in labor negotiations. Bettman worked there as a lawyer in the 1970s.

Bob Batterman, a top Proskauer Rose lawyer who works closely with the N.H.L. and the N.F.L., said in January that “the pendulum has swung too far toward the employees,” and that “employers are using lockouts because unions are reluctant to do what the employers consider reasonable.” Fehr said: “He’s obviously right that employers are using the lockout more often. Bob has been the architect of a whole host of those.”

[...] Talks are expected to resume this week in New York, with bargaining still stalemated but a solution in sight. Bettman is calling for an immediate reduction of players’ salaries to 50 percent of league revenue from 57 percent, a 12 percent pay cut. Fehr is calling for a gradual reduction to 50 percent that avoids pay cuts. [...] “After all the concessions the players made last time, in the billions of dollars, and with the owners having had record revenues seven years in a row, and the two highest growth years being last season and the season before, we see no basis upon which to tell players to go backward,” Fehr said.
 

Some posts the robot says are related, but I'll let you be the judge of that:

  1. “Tattaglia is a pimp. He never could have outfought Santino. But I didn’t know until this day that it was Barzini all along.”
  2. Bettman and Jacobs vs. the World?
  3. Is Bettman itching to cancel 2012-13 sooner than you think?
  4. NHL Lock-Out 2004: relive the magic!
  5. “They just want the money”
  6. Hickey, Stoll, Azevedo, Loktionov and Nash (not a law firm)
  7. Ken Campbell @ The Hockey News: “Shhh, be vawy vawy qwiet…”
  • Token

    None of the CBA bullcrap is about money at this point.The price has been set at 50/50 and both sides are happy with it. All that remains is ego and image for the gang of four. The NHL already hinted to the solution but Fehr chose not to take it. By suggesting the cap ceiling stay at 70M for this season the commish opened the door for Fehr to say 54/46 year one, then 50/50 for the duration. Current contracts get honored, next year UFA payroll is over 400M off the books so the whole bullshit 13% pay cut on existing contracts goes away. At 54% this year, the PA takes a 70M shave at 5% growth or get a 40M bonus at 7% growth. After that, growth takes over and the PA makes more than in 2012 even at 50%.

    I say banner raising on Nov 3rd.

  • Dan H.

    I hate to say it but I’m kind of over it. I’m a huge Kings fan and hockey in general but just going through this 6 years or so ago was bad enough. For them to do this again with the kind of parity the cap brought to the game is very sad and stupid on both sides. Originally the owners were the bad guys. They made a resonable offer last week and the players dismissed it and offered three more deals? Come on. I knew as soon as they hired Fehr that this would happen.
    How long did it take the league to come back last time? They’re not on ESPN, they’re on a channel half the country doesn’t get so I’m not sure they’re even “back”. Players are tossing a full years salary back to sit out a season now and how long will it take them to recoup that? I don’t care how much they make, the owners make deals and should stick to the salaries that they offered, and asking for a 22% cut was lunacy on their part. Now they’re just in a pissing contest and the fans suffer.
    Pound sand.