
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, May 7, 1993                   TAG: 9305070207
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                LENGTH: Medium

NFL, UNION SETTLE

The NFL and its players' union reached a collective bargaining agreement Thursday, settling on a seven-year contract that figures to end more than six years of labor strife.

Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and Players Association executive director Gene Upshaw announced the deal a few hours after the league's management council unanimously approved the agreement on behalf on the 28 clubs.

The pact, a culmination of the free-agency settlement four months ago, still must be ratified by a majority of the players in the NFLPA. Voting will begin immediately at NFL training sites.

The last contract between the league and the players expired in 1987. In the interim, there has been a strike, extended litigation, Plan B free agency and a period of unrestricted free agency that began last winter.

The agreement spells out the details of benefits and work rules that had not been changed since the old contract was reached in 1982.

"This agreement sets a foundation for the continued prosperity and growth of the NFL and its players as the premier sports league in America," Tagliabue and Upshaw said in a joint statement.

The two sides had been negotiating the past six weeks in Washington and New York. They were able to begin talks once the NFLPA was re-certified as a union in March.

"We're grateful that we've finally come to the end of a long and winding road," said Doug Allen, assistant executive director of the union. "The litigation cease-fire created the opportunity for people to talk to each other."

The agreement provides for each team to increase its spending on benefits from $4.04 million in 1993 to $6.6 million in 1999. Allen said the 28 teams spent an average of $2.8 million on player benefits in 1992.

The contract also modifies the free-agency terms agreed upon in the January. That settlement was spurred by a lawsuit seeking unrestricted free agency for all players whose contracts have expired.

The two sides said the agreement contains the most extensive benefits plan in professional sports.

Keywords:
FOOTBALL

by CNB