Employee Furloughs

[Twinkie defense]

– If the 49ers had managed to find a Malaysian airline for a new sponsorship agreement, maybe they wouldn’ t have had to give some employees unpaid furloughs.

Both local franchises could use better facilities, but notice that all Al Davis did was scale back his 80th birthday party to cut costs.

“Every fifth year, I’ve held a nice party in Las Vegas, but I felt this year, predicated on the economy, that we would just whittle it down to a few friends for dinner and hold off because we didn’t want to flaunt it when everyone else is having trouble financially,” Davis told Greg Papa.

For an NFL franchise to cry poor is reprehensible. The money the 49ers save in furloughs is couch change compared to the signing bonus they’ll be paying Michael Crabtree. The league is still essentially printing money, just not at the previous rate.

http://www.ibabuzz.com/raidersblog/2009 ... lost-time/

[Twinkie defense]

Pro Football Talk weighs in, their main story...

49ers spokesman Bob Lange confirmed the furlough to FitzGerald, but declined comment as to whether the employees were paid.

He didn't need to comment. If the employees were getting paid, it wouldn't be a furlough. It would be a vacation.

Or, more likely, they'd be working.

So are the Niners having trouble making ends meet? Or are they merely creating the impression of money problems in order to bolster the case for a new labor agreement featuring decreased payments to players?

We don't know and won't know -- unless and until the NFL agrees to open its books to the union.

We've said it before the launch of our NBC partnership and (if for no reason other than to prove that we haven't changed) we'll say it again: Profitable businesses that use the cover of a "bad economy" to justify laying off or otherwise reducing employee compensation fuel the downward spiral.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20 ... necessary/