{"id":380231,"date":"2011-04-14T01:34:26","date_gmt":"2011-04-14T01:34:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/04\/14\/court-ordered-mediation-set-for-thursday-ap\/"},"modified":"2011-04-14T01:34:26","modified_gmt":"2011-04-14T01:34:26","slug":"court-ordered-mediation-set-for-thursday-ap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/14\/court-ordered-mediation-set-for-thursday-ap\/","title":{"rendered":"Court-ordered mediation set for Thursday (AP)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

MINNEAPOLIS (AP)\u2014Different state. Different mediator. Same disagreements.<\/p>\n

One month and two days after the NFL and its players cut off negotiations on
\na new collective bargaining agreement and put the 2011 season in peril, the two
\nsides will return to the table for court-ordered mediation Thursday with a key
\nlegal ruling on the lockout still pending.<\/p>\n

NFL executives met with U.S. Magistrate Judge Arthur Boylan on Wednesday for
\nfive hours the day before the first talks between the league and the players
\nsince the middle of March.<\/p>\n

Executive vice president Jeff Pash, the NFL\u2019s lead negotiator, was at the
\nfederal courthouse along with other officials and outside counsel. Lawyers for
\nthe players met with Boylan for about four hours on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe appreciate the opportunity to meet with the magistrate and review the
\nissues with him in preparation for our session tomorrow, and we\u2019re looking
\nforward to seeing the players and their representatives tomorrow morning,\u201d Pash
\nsaid. He declined to comment further.<\/p>\n

Larger contingents are expected on Thursday, when mediation begins in
\nBoylan\u2019s chambers, including commissioner Roger Goodell himself. League
\nspokesman Greg Aiello said Goodell will attend along with some of the owners.<\/p>\n

This was posted on Goodell\u2019s Twitter feed Wednesday evening: \u201cI am also
\nlooking forward to resuming mediation talks tomorrow with players and their
\nrepresentatives.\u201d<\/p>\n

NFL Players Association executive DeMaurice Smith is scheduled to attend,
\ntoo, after withdrawing from a speaking event at Wake Forest so he could be in
\nMinnesota.<\/p>\n

The NFLPA, dissolved by a vote of the players, is now a trade association
\nand not a union. Smith, an attorney, was formally added to the legal team last
\nweek so he could represent the players in mediation even though he is no longer
\ntheir union boss.<\/p>\n

The talks are seen as the first encouraging step since March 11, when the
\nunion was dissolved, the CBA expired and the NFL wound up a few hours later with
\nits first work stoppage since the 1987 strike. All that has taken place since
\nthen are lawsuits and sharp disagreements between the two sides in one of the
\nmost rancorous sports labor disputes in memory.<\/p>\n

The lockout followed 16 days of negotiations overseen by a federal mediator
\nin Washington, with the league and players failing to agree on how to divide
\nmore than $9 billion in annual revenue.<\/p>\n

The owners initially wanted to double the money they get off the top for
\nexpenses from about $1 billion to about $2 billion, but that number decreased
\nduring the last round of mediation. The players have insisted on full financial
\ndisclosure from all 32 teams, and so far the league has not opened the books to
\ntheir liking.<\/p>\n

Other major issues included benefits for retired players and the NFL\u2019s
\ndesire to stretch the regular season from 16 to 18 games. The NFL also wants to
\ncut almost 60 percent of guaranteed pay for first-round draft picks, lock them
\nin for five years and divert the savings to veterans\u2019 salaries and benefits.<\/p>\n

More than $525 million went to first-rounders in guaranteed payments in
\n2010. The league wants to decrease that figure by $300 million, according to
\ndocuments obtained by The Associated Press. The NFLPA had no immediate comment.<\/p>\n

Boylan has a reputation as a problem-solver, but he may have his work cut
\nout for him.<\/p>\n

The key for Boylan is to make both sides comfortable with his neutrality and
\nfairness, said Robert Berliner, an attorney who runs the Berliner Group
\nmediation service in Chicago. He said the judge also has to prove he knows the
\nsubject and is flexible. Persuasiveness is a must, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think this is a fascinating opportunity to bring this to a successful
\nconclusion, but the parties have to be willing,\u201d Berliner said. \u201cThe mediator
\ncan only suggest, cajole and work hard to bring them together. He can\u2019t make it
\nhappen, and if the parties aren\u2019t willing to make a deal the best mediator in
\nthe world can\u2019t make it happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson, who ordered the mediation, is
\nstill considering a request from the players to lift the lockout imposed by the
\nowners. After an April 6 hearing, she said she planned to rule on the injunction
\nrequest in a couple of weeks.<\/p>\n

Players including MVP quarterbacks Tom Brady<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> and Peyton Manning<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> filed the
\nrequest along with a class-action antitrust suit against the league. The lawsuit
\nhas been combined with two other similar claims from retirees, former players
\nand rookies-to-be.<\/p>\n

For now, at least the two sides will be talking again\u2014even though it\u2019s
\nunder a court order.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether they\u2019ll make progress, it\u2019s really hard to tell,\u201d Berliner said.
\n\u201cI\u2019d like to think so because I\u2019m firmly a believer that parties are way better
\noff deciding these issues for themselves than having courts decide them.\u201d<\/p>\n

AP Football Writer Barry Wilner in New York contributed to this report.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p>\n

Read this article:
\nCourt-ordered mediation set for Thursday (AP)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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