Marx was very concerned with the concept of estranged labor, but he always seemed to apply to concept to the working class. I was wondering what he would have to say about the labor of a group of people who no one would allege to be low income or working class.
A recent article on ESPN.com describes a Labor vs. Management issue of the highest order. The current NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement, which dictates the procedures involved in determining player compensation and stipulates a minimum and maximum salary per team, is about to expire. If the NFLPA (players union) and the NFL owners cannot agree on a new CBA, the next season will be “uncapped” (no max, and more importantly no min) and there will be a lockout (read: strike) in 2011.
The idea of no football can be slightly jarring at a time when the NFL is arguable the most successful business model in recent history. Even someone who takes no interest in sports cannot help but notice that the football machine seems to rule the airwaves for 6 months out of the year. However, the sticking point in negotiations is the owners’ desire for the players to an estimated 18% pay cut, reducing their share of revenue from 59% to 41%.
I wonder what Marx would have to say about this. It is extremely difficult to measure the precise contributions of different groups to the NFL’s success, but I doubt Marx would like the idea of such a large pay cut. However he would undoubtedly disapprove of the leagues so-called “lockout insurance,” which takes the form of a $5 billion annual television contract that the owners get to divvy up even if there is no football. This would seem to be even more of a blow to labor than the UMWA no-strike clause because it undercuts to effectiveness of a strike rather than fueling it.
On the other hand, Marx might have no sympathy at all for the NFL players. They don’t exactly fall into his view of the proletariat, and the NFL isn’t exactly a productive industry (it doesn’t make toasters or grain or shoes, just money).
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4887844
