Steelers Vote To Reject 2011 CBA Led To Important Private Moment Between Art Rooney II And Charlie Batch

The Pittsburgh Steelers have a tradition that started in Heinz Field and has continued through the transition to Acrisure Stadium. The team, at key moments in a home game, play the song Renegade by Styx to fire up the defense and the home crowd. The choice of the music might not have started as one, but it has turned into a double entendre for the players. That held true for Mike Tomlin’s 2007-2011 Steelers. They were a team that did not much care for the changes the NFL was trying to implement at the time. The league started erratically enforcing player safety rules that infuriated James Harrison and most of the defense. It wasn’t the idea of player safety that enraged the Pittsburgh defense as much as the selective levy of fines surrounding the opaque initiative.

Charlie Batch was the union rep for the Steelers during this very turbulent time. He was a backup quarterback, but a highly respected voice in the locker room. Batch joined The Brian Hess Show on YouTube on Thursday to reflect on his role in representing a very angry group of Steelers during a volatile time in the NFL.

“There was things I was fighting for off the field sitting across from the owners, making sure the collective bargaining agreement is where it needs to be,” Batch stated. “This is something I always wore with a badge of honor because the players vote you in those positions. When you get to the vice president on the executive committee, the players from the NFL have to vote for you to take that position. They want you to be the voice for them.”

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The 2011 agreement between the players union and the NFL was tense. The players were facing a possible lockout, and Batch was caught between what was best for the union and for some very angry teammates. Harrison in particular was nearly forced into retirement over what he perceived was unfair treatment by the NFL. He openly declared on the Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger podcast he made the decision he was going to ''get his money's worth" if the NFL was going to fine him. 

“I was just honest and open and transparent with all of my players,” Batch continued. "Listen, you are going to hear this information from me, not what you are hearing on the news. I remember the deal was getting ready to be ratified. We’re sitting up in Latrobe. We had a team meeting, and I presented the whole collective bargaining agreement. Ultimately, I called my wife afterward and said, 'You might want to come up here today.'”

One of the big sticking points in the 2011 agreement was the power that Roger Goodell was granted to mete out disciplinary decisions. The Steelers were angry about their treatment, but foresaw the danger that led to several black eyes for the NFL over the next decade. Batch describes that his wife was reluctant to drive to Latrobe even after he hinted a symbolic, if not quite historic, gesture was about to take place.

“Actually, the vote for the collective bargaining agreement was 31-1,” Batch shared with his spouse. “We are the only team that voted no. It was like, by a landslide. It was 86-5 or something like that, something ridiculous. Players were like, 'No.' This is how I presented it, and all I could do was be open and honest. If I lose my job, so be it. At the end of the day, my integrity will not be questioned by any player in this particular room. All those years later, people started saying all the things in the collective bargaining agreement they didn’t know. My guys knew.”

Batch is one of the most unimpeachable characters that has ever graced the Steelers locker room. His job was negotiating the deal with the owners and presenting it to the players. He retained credibility and respect from both sides because he dispassionately argued for both sides.

Batch maintained his integrity and came out as a winner because of it. A trait that he found out he had in common with the man in the Steelers' owner box. Batch was blown away by an interaction with the owner after the vote to reject the CBA. 

“Here is the one thing I can respect about Art Rooney II,” Batch concluded. "At the time, we are sitting there, and my wife’s there after practice. She brings the truck up, and I’m thinking most player reps and executive committee lost their jobs. I’m looking at him, and he looks at me and gives me that blank look. He says, 'Business is business. We are going to let it play itself out on the field.' I made the roster, and we moved forward.”

It is hard to believe that this incident occurred only 12 years ago. It is unimaginable that the Steelers' dissent would not have been framed much differently in today's climate. The fact that Mr. Rooney and Batch could essentially wash their hands of a difficult negotiation that the team ultimately rejected and return to business as usual is a testament to both men. Batch played two more seasons before retiring from football.

The Steelers of 2011 refused to go along with what they believed was a flawed system. They objected to the agreement, voiced their opposition, and were proven correct over the life of the agreement. Pittsburgh players didn’t go along to get along, despite having the vice president of the players' union in their locker room. It has taken a few hits recently, but that is the Steelers Way. 

In short, the 2011 team were renegades. They did what they thought was right, and ownership might have disagreed, but they respected everyone’s right to disagree. This is a trait we could all use a little more of in 2023. The Steelers' recent struggles often blind fans to the organization's history. The Rooney’s are a different breed and are the unquestioned conscience of the NFL, even if they continue to employ Matt Canada.

What do you think, Steeler Nation? Are you impressed that Rooney and Batch could both move on quickly to the business of Steelers football? Let me know what you think. Please comment below or on my Twitter/X: @thebubbasq.

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