The National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) is the labor organization representing professional American football players in the National Football League (NFL). Founded in 1956, it was established to provide players with formal representation to negotiate compensation and the terms of a collective bargaining agreement. In the early years of the NFL, contractual negotiations took place between players and management; team owners were reluctant to engage in collective bargaining. A series of strikes and lockouts have occurred throughout the union's existence largely due to monetary and benefit disputes between the players and the owners. League rules that punished players for playing in rival football leagues resulted in litigation; the success of such lawsuits impelled the NFL to negotiate some work rules and minimum payments with the NFLPA. It was recognized by the NFL as the official bargaining agent for players in 1968. In addition to conducting labor negotiations, the NFLPA represents and protects the rights of players, ensures that the terms of the collective bargaining agreement are adhered to by the league and the teams, and negotiates and monitors retirement and insurance benefits. Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Football_League_Players_Association> _______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries: 1834: The German Customs Union instituted the first regular census in Germany. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Census_in_Germany> 1854: At least 22 people were killed and 35 others were injured when rebelling miners at the Eureka Stockade in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, clashed violently with the police and the military. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eureka_Rebellion> 1960: The musical Camelot (Julie Andrews and Richard Burton pictured), which would become associated with John F. Kennedy's presidency, opened on Broadway. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camelot_(musical)> 1984: Methyl isocyanate and other toxic chemicals were accidentally released from the Union Carbide India Limited pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, causing the world's largest industrial disaster. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhopal_disaster> 1997: Representatives from 121 countries signed the Ottawa Treaty banning the use of anti-personnel land mines. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottawa_Treaty> _____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day: fleeting: Passing quickly. <https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fleeting> ___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day: My task which I am trying to achieve is, by the power of the written word, to make you hear, to make you feel — it is, before all, to make you see. That — and no more, and it is everything. If I succeed, you shall find there according to your deserts: encouragement, consolation, fear, charm — all you demand; and, perhaps, also that glimpse of truth for which you have forgotten to ask. in --The Nigger of the 'Narcissus' <https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Nigger_of_the_%27Narcissus%27>