Freedom Still Aim of NFLPA : Union Presents Its Platform of Eight Objectives

Freedom is still the issue, Gene Upshaw said as the National Football League Players Assn. began its annual convention in Los Angeles Thursday.

Reminded that free agency has hit a snag in baseball, Upshaw, the association’s executive director, said: “Baseball is exempt from antitrust, (but) football is not. If there is collusion in football, (we) can seek triple damages.”

In the NFLPA definition, free agency means the unrestricted right of each player to sign with the club of his choosing. The union opposes right-of-first-refusal restrictions as well as draft-choice compensation.

“Every (other) American has freedom of opportunity,” Upshaw said.

Even so, there were two indications that the players may be backing off slightly on this as their top-priority mission in this year’s NFL negotiations.

First, after meeting with the 437 association members here for the convention, Upshaw twice declined to say how many still favor free agency as the overriding priority.

Second, in a press conference at the Century Plaza, he and Marvin Powell, the players’ new president, held that each of the eight objectives in what they call their negotiating game plan has the same weight.

“We’re pushing the whole package,” Upshaw said several times.

Besides free agency, the union wants guaranteed contracts, pension improvements, job protection for player representatives and union officers, an improved drug prevention program, more effective grievance arbitration, improvements in other benefits, and a shorter collective bargaining agreement.

The NFLPA’s five-year agreement with the owners will expire in August. A shorter plan could coincide with the new TV contracts, which will be in force for three years.

A nine-week strike preceded the adoption of the present agreement in 1982. This time a strike is believed to be less likely.

Upshaw and Powell declined to discuss any of their eight objectives in detail.

“We’re going to bargain at the table, not in the media,” Powell said. “In 1982, we were too sincere.. . . We answered media questions honestly.”

As executive director, Upshaw, a former Raider, has succeeded Ed Garvey, the Madison, Wis., lawyer who negotiated the union’s last two contracts.

“I’m confident that the players are united and that they understand the issues,” Upshaw said. “(Our) game plan will be successful.”

Pro Football Notes The NFL’s proposed London game this year “can’t be played unless it is bargained” by the NFLPA, Gene Upshaw said. . . . The players still oppose random, mandatory drug tests for all--the main plank in the owners’ drug plan. . . . Upshaw and three other past presidents, John Mackey, Tom Condon and Jeff Van Note, were in a panel interrogated at length by NFLPA members Thursday morning. . . . The players, who will be meeting here through Saturday, adjourned for golf in the afternoon. . . . To persuade NFL teams to dicker for free agents, the union is proposing incentive bonuses for club owners, including $2 million for division winners and $3.5 million for Super Bowl champions. . . . Five years ago, Ed Garvey sought 55% of the NFL’s gross because the players wanted that more than they wanted free agency, Upshaw said. Asked why they are asking for free agency now, he said: “The players have changed their minds.”