Just as companies have been forced to rethink their role in society and express why the world is better off having them around, labor unions need to engage in the same process.

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In fact, the league has had such little success in court that a primary goal for them during the standoff is to remove federal judicial oversight from the labor process, a burden the other major sports leagues in the U.S. don't have to endure.

WSJ: NFL, Players to Square Off in Court

Coincidentally, his comments were delivered as the IAM and Bombardier Learjet were in the process of hammering out a new labor contract.

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