Baseball Guru
07-09-2002, 10:20 AM
By RONALD BLUM
AP Sports Writer
July 9, 2002, 3:11 AM EDT
ROSEMONT, Ill. -- Without setting a strike date, the executive board of the baseball players' union is asking major leaguers for the authority to call the sport's ninth work stoppage since 1972.
Philadelphia outfielder Doug Glanville left the five-hour meeting Monday at a hotel near Chicago's O'Hare International Airport -- about 60 miles from the All-Star festivities in Milwaukee -- thinking it was wise to "prepare for the worst."
After the expiration of the previous labor deal on Nov. 7, owners proposed economic changes that would slow salary growth. Players are worried that as negotiations drag on into the fall, owners may try to unilaterally change work rules or lock out players, freezing offseason signings and trades.
"From the players' standpoint, a strike is a last resort," union head Donald Fehr said. "It would not be entered into unless the players feel they had no other viable option, and it is our hope over the next few weeks we will be able to have the kinds of serious and substantive discussions with major league owners we have heretofore been unable to have, and will resolve these issues."
Management reacted positively to the union's decision to hold off on a deadline.
"I think it's good that they didn't set a date," said Rob Manfred, the owners' top labor lawyer. "We've tried to send a signal that we'd like to get this resolved at the table."
During the session, which included All-Stars Todd Helton and Mike Remlinger, Fehr briefed players on the slow-moving talks, which are scheduled to resume Thursday in New York. During spring training, Fehr told players to be prepared to miss two or three paychecks, which would cover approximately the final 4-to-6 weeks of the season.
"Hopefully, this will light a fire under them to get negotiations going," Chicago White Sox pitcher Kelly Wunsch said. "Right now, we seem to be in a holding pattern. We want to find out exactly what the points of contention are."
Owners have proposed to increase the percentage of local revenue each team would share, from 20 percent to 50 percent, and a 50 percent tax on the portions of payrolls above $98 million, which combined would slow the increase in salaries. They have skyrocketed from an average of $51,500 in 1976 to $2.38 million on opening day this year.
Owners say only the large-market teams can win, and that more revenue sharing and a drag on salaries is needed to restore competitive balance.
"Guys have paid the price for you," Cleveland pitcher Paul Shuey said. "If it comes to that, you pay the price for the future."
Fehr has met with seven of the 30 teams and will continue his discussions. Player representatives will confer with teammates.
"The owners should say since the players didn't set a strike date, let's get something done," Minnesota's Denny Hocking said.
Eight years ago, the union's executive board met in Pittsburgh on the day before the All-Star game, then held a conference call 17 days later and set a strike for Aug. 12. The strike lasted until the following April and wiped out the World Series for the first time since 1904.
Players also discussed the owners' proposal to test for steroid use and said they would try to get a sense from their teammates on what the union's position should be. Fehr didn't give any specifics.
"It's a serious issue. It will be handled seriously and it will be handled in bargaining," he said.
Fehr thinks the sides could agree to a worldwide draft that covers all amateur players, an expansion of the current draft, which applies primarily to those in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.
He detailed the difference the sides have on revenue sharing, saying that using 2001 figures the clubs would like to increase the total from $167 million to $300 million and that the union would like it to be at about $230 million.
He also detailed the union's distaste for a luxury tax, which even teams readily admit would cause teams not to sign players they would without the limitation.
"A luxury tax is a significant penalty because somebody hired someone," he said. "If you think about it that way, that's a pretty strange thing to do in the United States of America."
Fehr scoffed at management's claim that the union has not responded to the owners' proposals.
"We have bargaining," he said, "and they do public relations."
AP Sports Writer
July 9, 2002, 3:11 AM EDT
ROSEMONT, Ill. -- Without setting a strike date, the executive board of the baseball players' union is asking major leaguers for the authority to call the sport's ninth work stoppage since 1972.
Philadelphia outfielder Doug Glanville left the five-hour meeting Monday at a hotel near Chicago's O'Hare International Airport -- about 60 miles from the All-Star festivities in Milwaukee -- thinking it was wise to "prepare for the worst."
After the expiration of the previous labor deal on Nov. 7, owners proposed economic changes that would slow salary growth. Players are worried that as negotiations drag on into the fall, owners may try to unilaterally change work rules or lock out players, freezing offseason signings and trades.
"From the players' standpoint, a strike is a last resort," union head Donald Fehr said. "It would not be entered into unless the players feel they had no other viable option, and it is our hope over the next few weeks we will be able to have the kinds of serious and substantive discussions with major league owners we have heretofore been unable to have, and will resolve these issues."
Management reacted positively to the union's decision to hold off on a deadline.
"I think it's good that they didn't set a date," said Rob Manfred, the owners' top labor lawyer. "We've tried to send a signal that we'd like to get this resolved at the table."
During the session, which included All-Stars Todd Helton and Mike Remlinger, Fehr briefed players on the slow-moving talks, which are scheduled to resume Thursday in New York. During spring training, Fehr told players to be prepared to miss two or three paychecks, which would cover approximately the final 4-to-6 weeks of the season.
"Hopefully, this will light a fire under them to get negotiations going," Chicago White Sox pitcher Kelly Wunsch said. "Right now, we seem to be in a holding pattern. We want to find out exactly what the points of contention are."
Owners have proposed to increase the percentage of local revenue each team would share, from 20 percent to 50 percent, and a 50 percent tax on the portions of payrolls above $98 million, which combined would slow the increase in salaries. They have skyrocketed from an average of $51,500 in 1976 to $2.38 million on opening day this year.
Owners say only the large-market teams can win, and that more revenue sharing and a drag on salaries is needed to restore competitive balance.
"Guys have paid the price for you," Cleveland pitcher Paul Shuey said. "If it comes to that, you pay the price for the future."
Fehr has met with seven of the 30 teams and will continue his discussions. Player representatives will confer with teammates.
"The owners should say since the players didn't set a strike date, let's get something done," Minnesota's Denny Hocking said.
Eight years ago, the union's executive board met in Pittsburgh on the day before the All-Star game, then held a conference call 17 days later and set a strike for Aug. 12. The strike lasted until the following April and wiped out the World Series for the first time since 1904.
Players also discussed the owners' proposal to test for steroid use and said they would try to get a sense from their teammates on what the union's position should be. Fehr didn't give any specifics.
"It's a serious issue. It will be handled seriously and it will be handled in bargaining," he said.
Fehr thinks the sides could agree to a worldwide draft that covers all amateur players, an expansion of the current draft, which applies primarily to those in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.
He detailed the difference the sides have on revenue sharing, saying that using 2001 figures the clubs would like to increase the total from $167 million to $300 million and that the union would like it to be at about $230 million.
He also detailed the union's distaste for a luxury tax, which even teams readily admit would cause teams not to sign players they would without the limitation.
"A luxury tax is a significant penalty because somebody hired someone," he said. "If you think about it that way, that's a pretty strange thing to do in the United States of America."
Fehr scoffed at management's claim that the union has not responded to the owners' proposals.
"We have bargaining," he said, "and they do public relations."