National Football League Referees Association

Last updated

National Football League Referees Association
AbbreviationNFLPA
Formation1972;52 years ago (1972)
Type Trade union
Legal status 501(c)(5) organization
Location
  • United States
Executive director
Scott H. Green
President
Carl Paganelli
Websitewww.nflra.com/

The National Football League Referees Association (NFLRA), established in 1972 as the Professional Football Referees Association is a labor union that serves as the collective bargaining agency for game officials with the National Football League (NFL).

Contents

The NFLRA has been involved in two work stoppages, lock outs taking place in 2001 and 2012. Its members are currently under contract with the league in a collective bargaining agreement signed in September 2019 and running through May 2026.

Organizational history

Background

Establishment

In July 1966, ahead of a regularly scheduled clinic for game officials employed by the National Football League (NFL) in Chicago, referee Stan Javie announced that an effort would be made to organize a trade union to bargain for higher game fees paid to officials by the league for working its games. [1] An opposing faction, headed by referee Tommy Bell also emerged at this meeting, who made the argument that increases in game fees could be won without establishment of a union. [1] After protracted discussion and debate, a vote was taken and by a count of 34 to 17 the decision was made to establish a collective bargaining unit, financed by dues payments of $50 per member per year. [1] A five-member negotiating committee was named to go to New York to meet with league commissioner Pete Rozelle, the representative of team owners. [1]

Further organizing effort was made at the annual NFL officials' clinic held in 1968 in Denver, when 53 NFL game officials were joined by 34 officials from the American Football League (AFL), which was scheduled to merge with the NFL following the 1969 football season. [1] The game officials of the two leagues remained in informal contact through 1971. [1] Early in March 1972 the organization was formally incorporated following a meeting in St. Louis as the "Professional Football Referees Corporation." [2] This name was subsequently changed to "Professional Football Referees Association". Ed Marion was selected as president of the new organization, and executive officers and a five-person board of directors named. [3]

Although the position of "referee" is very specific under football rules, one of five officials specified under article 2 of NFL rule 13, [4] an error by the lawyer drawing up the articles of incorporation rendered the name of the group as "Professional Football Referees Association" (PFRA). [5] This imprecise moniker remained unchanged until 2000. [5] The union was registered as a non-profit organization in 1975. [5]

At the time of the organization's formation, professional game officials received payment from the league ranging from $250 to $500 per game according to the NFL league office — an amount equating to $3,500 to $7,000 per year for a 14-game season. [6] Officials selected to work games in the post-season made $700 in the first round of the playoffs, $1,000 in the conference championships, and $1,500 for working the Super Bowl. [6]

Pension benefits

In 1974, President Ed Marion was given a lifetime appointment to a new position, that of executive director, with another person elected president. [5] Over further objection by a minority faction organized by Tommy Bell, a campaign was launched for the establishment of pensions for retired officials. [5] Marion was allowed to make a presentation to the 1974 annual owners' meeting in Florida, which was met sympathetically, with the result that an annual pension of $200 per month was granted to any officials retiring after the 1974 NFL season. [5]

This concession did not grant pension benefits back to the establishment of the informal united organization in 1968, however, and the union's membership voted to retroactively self-fund a similar benefit for the ten officials who had retired in the interim. [5] Every official was assessed fees totaling $400 between 1974 and 1978 and union initiation fees increased from $150 to $250 by 1984 to fund this supplemental pension, which continued to be paid out until the death of the last member of the affected group in 2009. [5]

The 1994 contract

2001 work stoppage

2012 work stoppage

The union today

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Professional Football Researchers Association</span> Sports historians

The Professional Football Researchers Association (PFRA) is an organization of researchers whose mission is to preserve and, in some cases, reconstruct professional American football history. It was founded on June 22, 1979 in Canton, Ohio by writer/historian Bob Carroll and six other football researchers and is currently headed by an executive committee led by its president, George Bozeka, and executive director Leon Elder. Membership in the organization includes some of professional football's foremost historians and authors. The organization is based in Guilford, New York.

The AFL–NFL merger was the merger of the two major professional American football leagues in the United States at the time: the National Football League (NFL) and the American Football League (AFL). It paved the way for the combined league, which retained the "National Football League" name and logo, to become the most popular sports league in the United States. The merger was announced on the evening of June 8, 1966. Under the merger agreement, the leagues maintained separate regular-season schedules for the next four seasons—from 1966 through 1969 with a final championship game which would become known as the Super Bowl—and then officially merged before the 1970 season to form one league with two conferences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Football League Players Association</span> NFL labor union

The National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) is the labor union representing National Football League (NFL) players. The NFLPA, which has headquarters in Washington, D.C., is led by executive director Lloyd Howell Jr. and president Jalen Reeves-Maybin. Founded in 1956, the NFLPA is the second-oldest labor union of the major North American professional sports leagues; it was established to provide players with formal representation to negotiate compensation and the terms of a collective bargaining agreement (CBA). The NFLPA is a member of the AFL–CIO, the largest federation of unions in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Major League Baseball Players Association</span> Labor union

The Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) is the labor union representing all current Major League Baseball players. All players, managers, coaches, and athletic trainers who hold or have held a signed contract with a Major League club are eligible for membership in the Association.

In professional sports, a replacement player is an athlete who is not a member of the league's players association and plays during a labor dispute such as a strike or lockout, serving as a strikebreaker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Mackey (American football)</span> American football player (1941–2011)

John Mackey was an American professional football player who was a tight end for the Baltimore Colts and the San Diego Chargers. He was born in Roosevelt, New York and attended Syracuse University. He was the first president of the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) following the AFL-NFL merger, serving from 1970 to 1973. Mackey was also a major reason the NFLPA created the "88 Plan", which financially supports ex-players who required living assistance in later years.

The 1920 APFA season was the inaugural season of the American Professional Football Association, renamed the National Football League in 1922. An agreement to form a league was made by four independent teams from Ohio on August 20, 1920, at Ralph Hay's office in Canton, Ohio, with plans to invite owners of more teams for a second meeting on September 17, 1920. The "American Professional Football Conference" (APFC) was made up of Hay's Canton Bulldogs, Akron Pros, the Cleveland Tigers and the Dayton Triangles, who decided on a six-game schedule to play each other at home-and-away, an agreement to respect each other's player contracts, and to take a stand against signing college students whose class had not yet graduated.

Jeff Triplette is a former American football official in the National Football League (NFL) from the 1996 season through the 2017 season. He wore uniform number 42.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Carollo</span> American football official (born 1951)

William F. Carollo is a former American football official who officiated National Football League (NFL) games from 1989 through 2008. He wore uniform number 63. Carollo officiated in two Super Bowls and eight conference championship games. After the 2008 season, he became the Coordinator of Football Officials for the Big Ten Conference and is currently Coordinator of Officials for the Collegiate Officiating Consortium (COC).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1920 Decatur Staleys season</span> NFL team inaugural season (later the Chicago Bears)

The 1920 season was the Decatur Staleys 2nd season of existence, the first professional season of the franchise that would go on to be known as the Chicago Bears and their first under head coach George Halas, competing in the newly formed American Professional Football Association.

A collective agreement, collective labour agreement (CLA) or collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is a written contract negotiated through collective bargaining for employees by one or more trade unions with the management of a company that regulates the terms and conditions of employees at work. This includes regulating the wages, benefits, and duties of the employees and the duties and responsibilities of the employer or employers and often includes rules for a dispute resolution process.

Edward P. Marion was an American official in the National Football League (NFL). Marion was in the league from 1960 to 1987 and officiated in Super Bowl V, IX and XI. He wore the number 26 for the majority of his career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Professional gridiron football</span> Professional leagues of gridiron football in North America

In the United States and Canada, the term professional football includes the professional forms of American and Canadian gridiron football. In common usage, it refers to former and existing major football leagues in either country. Currently, there are multiple professional football leagues in North America: the two longest-running leagues are the National Football League (NFL) in the U.S, and the Canadian Football League (CFL) in Canada. American football leagues have existed in Europe since the late 1970s, with competitive leagues all over Europe hiring American imports to strengthen rosters. The Austrian Football League and German Football League top division are known as the best leagues in Europe. The Japan X-League is also a strong league that has a long history since 1971. The NFL has existed continuously since being so named in 1922.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Commissioner of the National Football League</span> CEOs of the National Football League

The commissioner of the National Football League is the chief executive officer of the National Football League (NFL). The position was created in 1941. The current commissioner is Roger Goodell, who assumed office on September 1, 2006.

The Western Pennsylvania Professional Football Circuit was a loose association of American football clubs that operated from 1890 to approximately 1940. Originally amateur, professionalism was introduced to the circuit in 1892; cost pressures pushed the circuit to semi-professional status from about 1920 through the rest of its existence. Existing in some form for 48 years, it was one of the longest-lived paying football loops to operate outside the auspices of the National Football League.

The 2012 NFL referee lockout was a labor dispute between the National Football League (NFL) and the NFL Referees Association (NFLRA) that resulted in the use of replacement officials through Week 3 of the 2012 NFL season. The lockout began in June 2012 after both sides failed to reach consensus on a collective bargaining agreement. On September 26, 2012, an agreement was reached to end the lockout after increasing criticism of the NFL and the performance of the replacement officials, culminating in the infamous "Fail Mary" game between the Seattle Seahawks and the Green Bay Packers.

The NFL collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is a labor agreement which reflects the results of collective bargaining negotiations between the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) and National Football League (NFL). The labor agreement classifies distribution of league revenues, sets health and safety standards and establishes benefits, including pensions and medical benefits, for all players in the NFL. The first collective bargaining agreement was reached in 1968 after player members of the NFLPA voted to go on strike to increase salaries, pensions and benefits for all players in the league. Later negotiations of the collective bargaining agreement called for injury grievances, a guaranteed percentage of revenues for players, an expansion of free agency and other issues impacting the business of the NFL. The NFLPA and team owners have negotiated seven different agreements since 1968.

The Canton Bulldogs were a professional American football team, based in Canton, Ohio. They played in the Ohio League from 1903 to 1906 and 1911 to 1919, and the American Professional Football Association, from 1920 to 1923, and again from 1925 to 1926. The Bulldogs won the 1916, 1917, and 1919 Ohio League championships. They were the NFL champions in 1922 and 1923. In 1921–1923, the Bulldogs played 25 straight games without a defeat. This remains an NFL record.

The 2001 NFL referee lockout was a labor dispute between the National Football League (NFL) and the NFL Referees Association (NFLRA) that resulted in the use of replacement officials through Week 1 of the 2001 NFL season. The lockout began in August 2001 after both sides failed to reach consensus on a collective bargaining agreement, which had expired upon the conclusion of the 2000 NFL Season. It was the first time in the history of the league that replacement officials were used for regular season games. On September 19, 2001, an agreement was reached to end the lockout, which was precipitated by the September 11 attacks that had occurred the previous week and caused the postponement of all week 2 games.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Dale Hamer, Scott Green, and Jeff Triplette (eds.), PFRA/NFLRA History: Professional Football Referees Association (1972–2000) and National Football League Referees Association (2000–date), National Football League Referees Association, via www.nflra.com/, version of April 2024, p. 1.
  2. ↑ United Press International, "Pro Grid Refs Now Organized," Jacksonville [IL] Journal-Courier, April 4, 1972, p. 10.
  3. ↑ "Sports in Short: Professional Football Referees Corp. Selects Officers," New York Daily News, April 4, 1972, p. 26.
  4. ↑ Pete Rozelle (ed.), The Official Playing Rules as Devised, Amended and Authenticated for Professional Football by the National Football League, 1964. New York: NFL League Office, 1964; p. 88.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Hamer, Green, and Triplette (eds.), PFRA/NFLRA History, p. 2.
  6. 1 2 "Call Quest: NFL Officials Receive $250 to $500 Per Game According to League Office," Charlotte News, Jan. 1, 1972, p. 1.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.