Cardinals employees without a contract are about to get locked out.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that the Cardinals are invoking a one-week forced furlough for all non-contracted employees starting Sunday after midnight. They won’t be allowed to attend the team’s training facility or check email. (Seriously? Checking email?)
The Cardinals, run by the Bidwill family, have been one of the most aggressive teams in slashing pay during the lockout. The Cardinals coaching staff are contracted employees and have already seen their salaries cut by 35%.
No matter who you blame for the lockout, this behavior is gutless. (Even if it is unsurprising.) Owners knew this lockout was possibly coming and many planned appropriately for it,which shouldn’t be so hard to do at a time of unprecedented wealth for the league.
Other teams like the Cardinals and Dolphins decided it was palatable to punish those employees who could least afford it.