A local union has filed a charge against the Dallas Cowboys and the National Football League claiming that the organizations are violating players federal rights in the national anthem dispute.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones reportedly threatened to bench players that opt to kneel when the anthem is played at the beginning of the games. “If we are disrespecting the flag then we won't play. Period,” he told the news media after Sunday’s game. “We're going to respect the flag.”

That’s a violation of the National Labor Relations Act of 1935, according to the Local 100 United Labor Unions, which represents workers in the southeastern states of Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana.

On Tuesday, the group filed a charge with the Fort Worth office of the National Labor Relations Board, saying Jones’ public statements attempt to threaten, coerce and intimidate team members.

“The law is the law. And it’s against the law to threaten someone’s job,” said chief organizer, Wade Rathke. “Mr. Jones is way, way, way out of line here. And he needs to get back in his lane.”

Federal law protects the rights of employees who join together to raise work-related complaints, such as issues about working conditions or pay.

The Fort Worth labor relations board will assign an agent to contact the Local 100 union and Cowboys management to investigate the charge. If there’s merit, it’ll issue a formal complaint and the trial can be brought before an administrative law judge if there's sufficient evidence.

But not even Rathke doesn’t think it will make it that far.

"People get so high and mighty and rich and think they can just do anything. But the law is here, so sorry," he told The Dallas Morning News. "Frankly, we're hoping this is just a wake-up call."

He said that Jones' public statements are a body of evidence that is hard to dispute.

"We were just very offended that someone could so brazenly attempt to take away workers rights and with impunity threaten jobs. That's just offensive to any American."