MLS is set to start its season this week under the cloud of a potential work stoppage.
The league’s prior collective-bargaining agreement expired Jan. 31. League and players union representatives have been in negotiations since then, but a deal had yet to be reached as of last week.
The two sides on Feb. 13 agreed to have the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service oversee the talks. Last week, formal meetings were held Tuesday and Wednesday, and those meetings involved team owners for the first time. That owner involvement is expected to increase this week, as meetings continue in New York.
The league’s regular season is scheduled to begin Friday night.
MLS players have been saying publicly for months that they are united and ready to strike, but it was not clear last week when they would take such action. Also not clear was whether MLS would act pre-emptively and lock the players out rather than wait for them to strike.
MLS Labor Talks
THE PRINCIPALS
■ LEAGUE: Don Garber (MLS commissioner), Mark Abbott (MLS president and deputy commissioner), Bob Batterman (adviser, Proskauer attorney)
■ PLAYERS: Bob Foose (MLSPU executive director), Jon Newman (MLSPU general counsel), Eddie Pope (former player, MLSPU director of player relations)
■ OTHER: Scot Beckenbaugh (FMCS deputy director), Peter Donatello (FMCS commissioner)
THE ISSUES
■ Free agency
■ Minimum player salaries
■ Team salary caps
MLS President and Deputy Commissioner Mark Abbott said last week it “remains our goal to finalize the CBA prior to the start of the season.”
“We met with the federal mediators [last week], and discussions remain very constructive, and we continue to resolve the issues,” Abbott said. “We are scheduled to meet again with the union [this week], and both the union and MLS continue to have the same goal of the finalization of a collective-bargaining agreement.”
Bob Foose, executive director of the MLS Players Union, also said talks continue.
“Progress was made [last week] on several outstanding issues, but the major issues remain unresolved,” he said. “We will continue to work hard to see if there is an agreement that can be reached prior to the start of the season.”
While the union is fighting for increases to the salary cap and the minimum wage, the main point of contention is the players’ demand for free agency, as players in the other major pro leagues have. It is the same issue that raged during CBA discussions in 2004 and 2010. MLS contends that any change regarding free agency for the league will have an adverse effect on MLS’s single-entity structure, a system that it believes has been key to the progress of the league and will continue to drive its success.
Last week, many of the MLS agents contacted by SportsBusiness Journal seeking comment did not return phone inquiries. However, Richard Motzkin, who heads up the soccer practice for Wasserman Media Group, which represents more MLS players than any other agency, expressed hope that a deal could be reached.
“The fact that the mediator is involved is a positive step,” Motzkin said. “Less time needs to be spent on public rhetoric, and more time needs to be spent on finding creative solutions to the critical issues affecting this CBA negotiation, particularly that of player movement following the expiration of a contract.” He declined further comment.
Through last week, the negotiations were largely following the path they did in 2010, when the CBA expired and the federal mediation service was brought in. That year, MLS and the MLSPU reached a settlement with the help of FMCS Director George Cohen on March 20, five days before the start of the regular season. The players had let it be known publicly that they intended to strike if a deal were not reached by the start of the season.
Cohen has since retired, and the mediation is being overseen by FMCS Deputy Director Scot Beckenbaugh and FMCS Commissioner Peter Donatello.
Last time around, the two sides were able to agree to a deal after MLS made concessions to the players on issues such as increased guaranteed contracts and an increase in the salary cap while holding back any free agency rights for players. This time, positions have hardened. Players have vowed in recent weeks that they will not agree to anything less than some sort of free agency. At the same time, MLS Commissioner Don Garber has indicated that is not something to which the owners would agree.
What was not known last week was if and when the players might strike. Also unknown was whether MLS would allow the season to begin if the players are able to strike at any time.
MLS is being advised by Proskauer law firm partner Bob Batterman, who advised the NHL on that league’s 2004-05 lockout and the NFL on its lockout in 2011. Management labor law firms, including Proskauer, are known for advising sports clients not to allow a season to start when the players have the ability to strike at will.
The fact that a deal was still being pursued close to the start of the season is not uncommon. Labor deals often happen at the eleventh hour. Gene Orza, the former MLB Players Association attorney and COO who retired in 2010, said there is a good reason why deals are done near a deadline of a strike or a lockout.
“Why does it always come down to the last minute?” Orza asked rhetorically. “Because that is the only time you ever get the truth.”
