Louisiana Officials Possible Strike?

[just another ref]

Originally Posted by LouisianaDave

The attitudes of JAR is the reason that Louisiana is so cheaply paid. I work for the Baton Rouge association and we held a special meeting and the members voted to be unavailable. All this talk of contracts is irrelevant. The way the association works, the principals enter into an agreement with an officials association to use their officials. Then the association must use the an assignor paid for and hired by the principals. On Feb 1, all except for 3 officials were unavailable to work and therefore games had to be postponed. As independent contractors we have the right to be available or unavailable.

As JAR state principals voted down the pay raise due to the threat of a strike. The principals figured there wasnt enough unity amongst officials to actually follow through on the walkout, but when the games got postponed the officials showed the principals there are more guys willing to stay home(me) than guys who were working (JAR). Even though 4 associations sat that is a misleading quote. There were 4 association who were done for the season. For one Tuesday night the officials of the following cities sat Shreveport, Monroe, Hammond, Alexandria, Baton Rouge, Thibidoux and a majority of New Orleans. Lafayette didnt vote and worked and Lake Charles worked.

So why did you not have a special meeting before this current contract was signed and demand a raise then? And how is the contract irrelevant, whether you like the way the system is structured or not? As you point out, we, as individuals are not contracted and have the right to sit out at any time. But you think it's okay to desert your assignor in the middle of the season? Also, if you were done for the season, what changed? All we have is a promise to reconsider the proposal, or a similar proposal. This promise, in and of itself, seems to me to mean very little.