MLS, players union hammer out new labor deal

By Tripp Mickle and Liz Mullen, staff writers

MLS and the MLS Players Union reached agreement today on a new five-year collective bargaining agreement that will improve player compensation, give most players guaranteed contracts and improve players' ability to move from team to team. MLS Commissioner Don Garber said the new deal will “very positively … set the stage for a new relationship ... between Major League Soccer and its players.” He added, “Our goal was to improve our relationship with the players and address their deepest concerns, but do so in an evolutionary way rather than revolutionary way.” MLSPU Executive Director Bob Foose said, “The negotiations certainly had emotional ups and downs for everyone involved ... but our commitment on both sides never wavered to get it done.”
NO FREE AGENCY: League and union officials provided limited details on the new CBA during a conference call today. They said they will release complete details later today regarding the specifics of how much player compensation will increase and how guaranteed contracts for players will work. The parties did, however, address the issue of free agency, a chief sticking point in negotiations because players wanted it and MLS owners refused to concede on it. The new deal won't provide free agency, but will give players greater ability to change teams as the result of a newly created “reentry draft.” Players who are cut, whose options aren't picked up by their teams or whose contracts expire will enter the draft at the end of the season and teams will be able to pick them up and sign them to new agreements. The concept was developed by the union. Foose acknowledged the union made progress on the issue of free agency, but “not as much as we would have chosen.” Garber said, “MLS was founded on the principle that our owners would not be competing against each other for player services. When we think of free agency, it's that concept of internal bidding, and there will not be internal bidding for player services.”
MEDIATOR HELPED WITH DEAL: Both Garber and Foose praised George Cohen, director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, who acted as a mediator in the talks in the last two weeks, working late nights. They said that without Cohen's assistance a deal might not have been possible.
MLS player and LA Galaxy midfielder Landon Donovan said, “Going forward, we're going to have a real relationship with the league as opposed to being combative at times. We're all mainly excited that we get to play soccer this year, and we're all very, very proud of what we accomplished here.”