Financial transparency is still a sticking point.
It’s been a recurring theme since these labor negotiations intensified, but on Tuesday the NFLPA once again made note of the incomplete financial picture they have, and this time it appears as though the NFL is considering relenting and turning over even more information. Today lead mediator George H. Cohen is meeting with a smaller contingency of negotiators while both sides await word, the topic of the session will be financial disclosure.
The players have contended that making a decision with regards to the dividing of billions of dollars of revenue requires absolutely every bit of information necessary. On Tuesday Scott Fujita sounded off on the matter.
“We’re being asked to give back almost a billion dollars, so it’s important for us to adequately analyze and interpret the little bit of information that’s been provided,” said Fujita, who attended negotiations last month but not this week. “And ultimately, if they’re unwilling to provide full audited statements, then we need to know what other information we need to make a sound decision.”
The owners have made more resources available, but have yet to give a full financial audit to the NFLPA. The NFL is not required by law to do so and in many labor negotiations that sort of move would be unprecedented, but the very lucrative and public nature of these negotiations have made it easier for the NFLPA to push this issue. NFL general counsel Jeff Pash told reporters this morning he feels the issues of financial transparency should be “behind us.”
“We’ve made more information available in the course of this negotiation than has ever been made available in decades of collective bargaining with the NFLPA,” Pash said. “Far more information. And we’ve offered to make even more information [available], including information that we do not disclose to our own clubs.”
We’ll see how this plays out.
Original Story:
http://thepewterplank.com/2011/03/09/...
