When Rob Manfred, the CEO of Major League Baseball (MLB), announced with a slightly too big smile on March 1 that the first games of the season were canceled due to the difficult collective labor agreement negotiations, this news was immediately picked up by the baseball players themselves. Michael Lorenzen, one of the pitchers of Los Angeles Angels, posted on Twitter a movie with Manfred’s smile. He wrote below: “I have no idea how he can laugh at anything right now. I am astonished.”
The tweet was retweeted nearly 1,000 times and liked more than 6,000 times. That was exactly what the baseball players needed to put pressure on the negotiations between the players’ union and the club owners. The two sides had sat around the table for ten days in February of this year, but they hadn’t come to an agreement. For the first time since 1994, the opening day of the competition had been postponed.
Millionaires and Billionaires
Negotiations have a prominent place in American baseball and this time the game from the first moment was played very hard. The Athletic even describes the five-year collective labor agreement in American baseball as „the game within the game† A match within a match that has existed since 1968, when players arrived at their first CBA with the help of financial advisors, a collective bargaining agreement†
“It may be difficult for an outsider to understand. Because there are so many rules”, explains former baseball international Tjerk Smeets. “It is a battle between millionaires and billionaires, who have a very big disagreement and have to divide a lot of money. There are thirty club owners who want to earn as much as possible. The same goes for the players. Who is right?”
The deeper problem for this year lay in previous negotiations. Five years ago, both the players’ union and the MLB quickly reached an agreement, about which the players were dissatisfied with hindsight. The players’ union demanded this time that young players would earn more. The club owners reacted to that demand quite abruptly by issuing a lockout to announce. This is a measure by the employers, whereby all activities are discontinued and contact between players and clubs is immediately prohibited.
This was an undesirable situation for everyone. Players suddenly had to start training themselves and were no longer allowed to come to the club. Transfers were not possible. Everything stood still for a while in American baseball. The closer to the start of the season, the more everyone worried about their salary. Without matches the players earn nothing.
The minds of many went back to the dreaded 1994 season, the year of the longest strike in American baseball history. It was based on the players at the time. An impasse that lasted 232 days. Nearly a thousand matches were cancelled. The strike cost the MLB a lot of money. For example, the number of visitors dropped to an average of less than 30,000 per game. It would be ten years before they were back to their old level. No one wanted a repeat of this scenario.
That is why players commented on the stiff discussions via Instagram and Twitter and tried to put pressure on the club owners. It also didn’t help MLB CEO Manfred that he was back on the golf course a day after the cancellations. Those images were also eagerly shared.
On March 10, 99 days after the lockout, the club owners and the players’ union agreed on a collective labor agreement for the next five years. The clubs voted unanimously (30-0). The players’ union was more divided: 26 members voted in favour, 12 against. “Our players’ union has seen the second-longest strike in its history to make significant progress in key areas that help not only today’s players, but also the younger generations,” said Tony Clark, the players’ union president. closing the deal.
“I have to apologize to the fans,” said Manfred. “I know the last few months have been very difficult. There was a lot of uncertainty in a time that is already very uncertain. It may also be a bit how the whole process of these negotiations sometimes goes.”
The minimum salary in the Major League will rise from USD 570,000 to USD 700,000 (more than EUR 640,000), an amount that will rise to USD 780,000 in 2026. There will be an additional prize pool of USD 50 million, mainly intended for young players who perform very well, but don’t see that reflected in their contract yet.
‘peeped’
Tjerk Smeets calls the attention to the talents a good thing. “Each team has a representative on the players’ council. Those are established names. They have been very committed to young, up and coming players. Previously, they were a bit squeaky. Then they were returned to a training crew ten times a year. A maximum of five times has now been agreed for this. Players are now also allowed to negotiate their first contract earlier, if they perform at a certain level. Those are really important points.”
Smeets’ conclusion: “Of course both parties had to compromise, but if you have to designate a winner, then the players’ union has won.”
Last Thursday, the first games of the postponed season were played. American Nico Hoerner of Chicago Cubs hit the first homerun of the new season against the Milwaukee Brewers. A few thousand more will follow, to the relief of the fans.
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