The NFL lockout will not end on Thursday night. Several hours after the owners approved a new Collective Bargaining Agreement unanimously, the NFL players have elected not to vote after several hours of outrage and claims the owners added new elements the players didn't know about.
The owners voted 31-0 on a new CBA, and commissioner Roger Goodell put forth a proposed schedule where NFL free agency would begin on Wednesday, July 27. But the players quickly objected to many things in the proposal. The latest: the owners' reported demand for them to re-certify as a union, which violates U.S. law.
"In addition to depriving the players of the time needed to consider forming a union and making needed changes to the old agreement, this proposed procedure would in my view also violate federal labor laws," the email read. "Those laws prohibit employers from coercing their employees into forming a union, and could result in any agreement reached through the procedure being declared null and void."
The email say the league "demands that the players re-form as a union and provide evidence by Tuesday, July 26 that a majority of players have signed union authorization cards."
ESPN's Chris Mortensen reported on TV that the players want to review the document overnight, but given the rhetoric of several players, most notably Redskins player representative Vonnie Holiday, it seems like there may be some feelings that need to be fixed.
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