Barring a sudden and unexpected breakthrough, the National Football League will soon join the state of Wisconsin in acrimonious labor limbo. Though NFL commissioner Roger Goodell presides over a profitable multi-billion-dollar industry and Wisconsin governor Scott Walker faces an underfunded state budget, both officials have come up with the same proposal: getting rid of the existing collective-bargaining agreements with their employees.
And each is having a
bit of trouble
convincing people
that his chosen solution is necessary or helpful—but that’s not for lack of trying. Can you match the argument to the official?
1. “Staying with the status quo is not an option. The world has changed for everyone.”
2. “We all recognize that these are historic times that require us to rethink how [our entity] operates.”
3. “It’s about time somebody stood up and told the truth…and said, ‘Here’s our problem. Here’s the solution,’ and acted on it. Because, if we don’t, we fail to make a commitment to the future.”
4. “If we…fail to fulfill our shared responsibility…everyone will be worse off.”
5. “We do not have a healthy…model that can sustain growth.”
6. “We are broke because time and time again [leadership] ran from the tough decisions and punted them down the road for another day.”
7. “The status quo means…the continuation of outrageous sums paid to many unproven [employees].”
8. “The union has repeatedly said that it hasn’t asked for anything more and literally wants to continue…under the existing agreement. That clearly indicates the deal has moved too far in favor of one side.”
9. “Emboldened by the fact that they had collective bargaining agreements, they said, ‘Go ahead. Literally lay off 400 or 500 people.’ And to me, laying off people in this economy is just completely unacceptable.”
(1. Roger Goodell. 2. Scott Walker. 3. Walker. 4. Goodell. 5. Goodell. 6. Walker. 7. Goodell. 8. Goodell. 9. Walker.)
