The NFL Referees Association has unanimously rejected the NFL's latest proposal in a vote of the union executive council.

The rejection came at the conclusion of a three-hour conference call that went into the early morning hours Thursday. This rejection assures that the NFL will go through the process of using replacement officials for the first week of the regular season.

NFL Referees Association chief Tom Condon told ESPN's Sal Paolantonio that no further talks are scheduled.

"We are disappointed but we are ready to go with our new officials," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said.

Aiello said the league would publicly address issues involved in the dispute later in the day, including how long the replacements might be on the job.

Aiello noted that the league has picked up four "quality" Division I officials who were tired of being harassed by the NFL Referees Association via e-mails and phone calls.

During a brief negotiating session Wednesday morning in New York, the NFL Referees Association received an offer that would increase referees' pay this season from the league's earlier proposed 40 percent to 60 percent. Along with that, the NFL would pay referees $10,000 a year for some of the extra work involved with their jobs.

The union's executive committee consists of Ed Hochuli, Bill Carollo, Jeff Bergman and Ben Montgomery. The 119-member union is in the second week of a lockout that began during the final week of the exhibition season.

Last week, the NFL used a pool of 120 to 130 replacements who have been guaranteed $8,000 for four weeks of work.

Terms of the league's new proposal include an 85 percent increase by the 2002 season and a 100 percent increase in 2003. The final year of the five-year deal would feature a 120 percent increase over current salaries.

The current pay scale has first-year officials making $24,825, fifth-year officials making $30,465, 10-year officials making $40,479, 15-year officials making $53,565 and 20-year officials making $69,990.

Pension benefits will increase from 33 percent to 50 percent.

During the Wednesday negotiating session, Referees' Association chief Tom Condon offered to have the officials return to work if the league agreed to binding arbitration. The NFL rejected that concept Wednesday.

ESPN.com's Len Pasquarelli and information from the Associated Press contributed to this report