The CBA or Collective Bargaining Agreement between the MLS Players and the league itself has yet to reach a new contract. The negotiations have not got off to a good start as the players will want some significant changes, especially an increase in the salary cap. While a lockout would have disastrous consequences for both sides, it should not be counted out as its happened in other American sports leagues. Here are a few reports from a variety of sites discussing the issue in more detail and why there’s reason for concern.
ESPN.com - Lockout looming – http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=4763144&name=hush_andrew
Around the time MLS was patting itself on the back for securing the services of Landon Donovan for four-year extension, less progress was being made toward ensuring that the Los Angeles skipper will actually kick a ball in competitive anger next season. Six weeks from the expiration of the current collective bargaining agreement, a new deal continues to look some way off.
Kasey Keller had some interesting things to say regarding the CBA in his blog last week, the most pertinent of which was his acknowledgment that a player lockout looks increasingly likely to begin on Feb. 1, around the time preseason training is getting underway.
Given the modest salaries earned by all but a select few in MLS, the players’ insistence on fighting their corner is both understandable and laudable, not just from their personal points of view but on behalf of future generations of professionals. However, how much power do they have? Their cause certainly took a hit when FIFA — under whose guidelines (free agency, guaranteed contracts etc.) they would like to operate more closely — opted not to become directly involved in the process.
So MLS holds most of the cards in this battle and, to be honest, their stance is understandable. For example, the risks of awarding guaranteed contracts within the confines of a salary cap are clear. Meanwhile, according to a September 2008 report by Forbes, although the financial footing of the league is better at the end of the decade than it was at its beginning, overall it continues to run at a loss.
However, the league must be careful to ensure it strikes a balance between prudent growth and alienating its employees. As Keller himself noted, “This isn’t a negotiation for a bunch of players wanting 8 million a year instead of 7 million a year.” In the wake of Donovan being awarded a contract, which, reports suggest, is worth $9m, should the league fail take care of the other 99.99 percent of its players to their satisfaction, little will be done to enhance the state and reputation of soccer in this country.
As another veteran goalkeeper, Pat Onstad, put it: “I don’t think any work stoppage has ever been beneficial.”
Tribalfootball.com – MLS players set themselves for February lockout
MLS players are bracing themselves for a lockout at the start of February according to Seattle Sounders goalkeeper Kasey Keller.
The league and the players have not yet come close in regards to a new collective bargaining agreement with the current agreement set to finish at the end of this year and Keller said the players have been braced by their union to prepare for a lockout.
“Negotiations have been under way between the players union and MLS for some time now. I wish I could report that we were close to signing an agreement, but that doesn’t seem to be the case,” Keller said on his blog kaseyslastline.com. “As players we have been told of a probable lockout date of Feb. 1st.
“What’s most disappointing to me is, this isn’t a negotiation for a bunch of players wanting 8 million a year instead of 7 million a year. The main points revolve around us being given the same rights under FIFA as the rest of the players around the world.
“As an MLS player you have to sign away your FIFA rights before you are allowed to sign your contract. We would like a moderate rise in the salary cap, but the major points for the players are: guaranteed contracts, free agency, and the right to negotiate with other MLS teams. These are some of the basic rights the players in all the other leagues around the world have that we have to sign away.
“With the huge strides MLS has made since the last CBA this seems very reasonable. I would hate to see anything get in the way of the great success of the Sounders had this year, and the respect we earned in our first year as a franchise. I would think that MLS and US Soccer would be proud to announce that the sport has developed so greatly in the last few years that we are ready to stand shoulder to shoulder with the rest of the world.”
