Major League Labor Dispute

     As protest sweep across the Middle East, back home in America, there is strife of a different kind. The poor economy has created a smaller pie for everyone, and now there is a fierce battle ongoing over wages, hours, and the very existence of the union.
     We are, of course, talking about the National Football League. The NFL has seen a major jump in popularity over the last decade, and has become the most popular sport in the United States. With the recession, however, even this venerable institution has seen its income shrink, and now, owners and players are disputing how to divide up a mere $9 billion in annual assets.
     The owners wish to slice about 15 percent off of the salary cap, in order to invest the savings back into stadiums and promotion, in order to grow the game in the long haul. Players, on the other hand, are the ones putting their bodies on the line, and say that they are the ones responsible for the popularity the game enjoys. Also, the average NFL career is only 3 seasons, so although players can make millions of dollars, most careers are painfully short. Finally, the owners want to scrap 2 pre-season games in favor of two regular season games. This would create more revenue for the league, but unless these are passed on to the players, they have little incentive to add weeks to an already long season.
     This is an interesting dispute in light of other labor negotiations that are ongoing in the United States. It could be argued that the success of Players Associations, especially those of the NFL and Major League Baseball, are a contributing factor in the popular decline of unions overall. Often, players have been seen as greedy, and the result of such high salaries have been higher ticket prices and much grumbling from fans. Here, however, average workers will recognize the actions of the owners as eerily familiar; lower wages, longer hours, and fewer workplace rights.