After being locked out since June, National Football League referees will return to work on Thursday. The league and union announced that they had reached a tentative eight-year agreement. The deal comes after backlash from players, coaches and fans for missed calls and other mistakes by the replacement officials. Negotiations had centered around pension and retirement benefits for the referees. The new contract preserves the current pension up until a certain point before it is frozen, and also includes salary increases. The referees will vote to ratify the agreement on Friday.
See "Refs to return to work tonight as tentative deal reached with NFL", The Associated Press, Chicago Tribune, September 26, 2012