The upcoming NFLPA election is a hot topic. Pryor Cashman Labor Partner Joshua Zuckerberg was quoted in articles about the election by both USA Today and the Sports Business Journal.

In an article about the election contained in the March 9,2009 edition of the Sports Business Journal entitled “Conquer and Unite – After Tough Campaign, New Chief Must Quickly Bring Players Together,” Liz Mullen and Daniel Kaplan reported that the NFL Players Association begins meeting this Saturday to elect the successor to late Executive Director Gene Upshaw.

It has been suggested that if the winner of the election does not have the support of all of the players, it might spell trouble in the coming labor negotiations with the league. As Zuckerberg told the Sports Business Journal: “If management feels Vincent, or whomever comes out of this thing, doesn’t have the support of a portion of the rank and file, I certainly think they will be emboldened to take a harder-line position. That is just Labor Relations 101.”

On March 11, 2009, USA Today featured a story entitled “Contentious campaign, critical vote for NFLPA’s top job. Zuckerberg was asked by USA Today about the importance of the new leader having a united force behind him. He responded: “whoever gets elected may not have the full support of the rank-and-file. That can certainly be an issue going into negotiations. You want a union to at least have the appearance of a united front, where the leader has the backing of the majority. If that's not the case, you'll see management push the envelope on certain issues and test the strength of that leader. That, to me, is what this election is all about: Whether the rank and file can be united.”

To read the entire Sports Business Journal article, please click here.

To read the USA Today article, please click here.