“Things are going well right now,” said Pittsburgh Steelers
quarterback Charlie Batch , a member of the NFL Players Association executive
committee. “We’ll see how things progress over the next couple days.”
Batch didn’t discuss any details on his way out of Monday’s
session.
NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith left at 6 p.m.,
about seven hours after Monday’s session began. NFL executives departed minutes
after Smith. None would take questions about the negotiations; the sides agreed
not to comment publicly during mediation.
After months of infrequent — and sometimes contentious — bargaining,
the league and union have been communicating face-to-face since Friday. The
sessions are taking place at the office of George Cohen, director of the
Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, a US government agency.
The league and union agreed to try mediation in a bid to
find common ground before the current labor deal expires at the end of the day
March 3. The union has said it believes team owners want to lock out the
players as soon as the next day, which could threaten the 2011 season.
The sides met for about six hours on both Friday and Saturday,
and another eight hours Sunday. Cohen announced Thursday the groups agreed to
the mediation, which is not binding but is meant as a way to spur progress. The
plan calls for several days of negotiations with Cohen present.
“Any time that you talk,” Batch said, “you have to feel
better.”
He and two other current players — Cleveland Browns
linebacker Scott Fujita and New York Jets fullback Tony Richardson — left
Monday at 5 p.m., getting into cars that were heading to the airport. It wasn’t
clear whether other players would take their spots with the union’s negotiating
team in Washington.
The NFL’s group began arriving at 8 a.m. Monday, and
Commissioner Roger Goodell walked in alone shortly after 9 a.m. The NFL’s group
included general counsel and lead labor negotiator Jeff Pash and outside lawyer
Bob Batterman.
Smith got to Cohen’s office at about 11 a.m., entering with
Fujita. Former players Pete Kendall and Sean Morey also were part of the union
contingent Monday, along with lawyers Richard Berthelsen and Jeffrey Kessler.
The league and union went more than two months without any
formal bargaining until Feb. 5, the day before the Super Bowl. The sides met
again once the next week, then called off a second meeting that had been
scheduled for the following day.
The most recent CBA was signed in 2006, but owners exercised
an opt-out clause in 2008.
The biggest issue separating the sides is how to divide
about $9 billion in annual revenues. Among the other significant points in
negotiations: the owners’ push to expand the regular season from 16 games to 18
while reducing the preseason by two games; a rookie wage scale; and benefits
for retired players.
