Despite a pair of extensions to the negotiation period between Major League Soccer and the MLS Players Union, there has been no significant progress regarding the issues central to the two side's differences, leaving the sides far apart in talks for a new Collective Bargaining Agreement.
According to multiple sources, MLS has yet to budge on issues ranging from free agency to team control in player personnel decisions, making a work stoppage a very real possibility with the 2010 MLS season just a month away.
"We feel the league's not taking us very seriously at all," said Houston goalkeeper Pat Onstad, a member of the player's union executive committee. "We're pretty far apart at this stage.
"Earlier in January there were some indications that some progress was going to be made, but right now, I think the negotiations are really in a bad place," Onstad said. "We're a long way from getting this deal done."
Key among the issues being fought over are player free agency and team autonomy in player transactions. The union is rallying around, among other things, the chance for players who aren't wanted by their former clubs to be able to move freely within the league.
That issue has been magnified by the situations of veterans Kevin Hartman and Dave Van Den Bergh, two players currently out of contract who are in limbo because their respective teams are seeking compensation for their rights despite the fact that both teams declined contract options for the player and neither team intends to sign the player.
Veteran defender Adrian Serioux is in a similar situation, but his status is even more troubling because he played out the full four years of his MLS contract and still remains in limbo because Toronto FC is seeking compensation for his rights.
"We just want the same freedoms that players around the world have," Onstad said. "This isn't a case of us fighting over money, that's not the main issue, it's about how we are treated as players and the current CBA just isn't acceptable."
When contacted about the comments from the player's union, MLS stood by its comments from last week.
"The negotiations are ongoing," said MLS spokesman Will Kuhns. "Meetings are scheduled for next week between the league and the union and the deadline on those negotations is February 25. We're hopeful for a mutuall ybeneficial conclusion."
MLS and the Player's Union agreed on an extension to their CBA talks until Feb. 25, but with the sides still far apart and the season just a month away, a delay to the start of the season is looking more and more likely. MLS commissioner Don Garber has already stated that the league does not want to operate under the current CBA, so a league lockout is possible. A player's strike is also a very real possibility.
"All I can say from our standpoint, from the player's standpoint, is that we're ready for a work stoppage," Onstad said. "We're very unified and the guys are adamant that there needs to be major changes in the CBA and right now it's just not on the table, and as far as we're concerned, we don't want to play under those conditions."
It’s a shame FIFA don’t want to get involved and even more of a shame that they dont see a problem with the current structure. Give the guys a contract they want to sign. This whole deal also has deeper implications. If things progress as they are it may show that the players believe playing in the US is not even worth it given the current conditions. This will greatly harm the game at a senior and youth level. Garber should just go along with the players demands for the sake of the sport in the US and stop being such a tighwad.
Alot of industries make you sign a clause that you can not work for a competitor or someone else in the field for up to 6 mths to a year, if the players stick together they lose, becuase under fifa law they are contracted to MLS, unless the league folds and releases the players they won’t play anywhere. I don’t see how thats a win situation.
she’d just smuggle the players to Russia from her backyard
As fans, of course, we don’t want a work stoppage. But also as fans, and presumably as folks who work for a living, shouldn’t we support the players. They are asking basic rights, rights that players in nearly all other countries already have. What the players are asking for will cost the league little or nothing and will probably strengthen the league in the long run, by making it a more attractive place to play. Isn’t it time for a little solidarity with the players?
No problem, and I see where you a coming from. But you have to see it from a fan perspective. 95+ percent of fans don’t know how crappy MLS is about all of this. They see a player strike and think, “these guys get paid, TO PLAY SOCCER, in this economy, and they’re bitching about it? Screw those guys.”
That’s the history that I referred to. That’s what happened in baseball and hockey, and that’s what will happen here.
If a work stoppage lasted more than a week or two, (or one CBS Nightly News Story) it could be a death knell to the league.
@Jersey Scouser: In no league in the world can a player retire from a team in the middle of a contract and then unretire and play with another team. Beckham still has 2 years remaining on his deal.
Just work it out
I don’t see the point in taking sides. A stoppage will set this league back a long time. In fact, I think it’s VERY possible it would kill the league. The people here who seem to think the players should strike are clueless. Haven’t we seen this enough already? All around the world we have unions causing devastation to companies and countries alike. I fail to see what driving your employer out of business accomplishes. I think if MLS players can just hang in there a little bit longer they will slowly, but surely, get better pay and conditions. Regardless, the league is still in no position to be making costly financial concessions. I could see it if the league was doing really well, but the league starting to break even is no reason to hit them up for money. The most important thing at this point is for the league to survive. When the league started they set a goal of achieving average attendance of 17,000 or more by the second season. More than a decade later they still haven’t achieved that relatively modest goal.
You do realize that it takes TWO sides to negotiate, right?
You have no idea what you are talking about. At all.
He would NEVER stay on loan at Everton if there is a strike.
Are you kidding me? This is the same exact thing you have posted on another message board multiple times. Would you drop the whole thing. You just brought up your stupid 50k a year and second job argument in an article that has a player even saying it isn’t about the money! Remove your head from your lower extremities and come up with an original thought that matches what this article is saying.
I agree with earlier comments that we as fans must have our voices heard. A lockout would be disastrous for the league but also for all of the fans. The prospect of it alone makes me sick to my stomach. Any place where we could sign a petition to let know MLS we demand they compromise? Could you work something out Ives?
This is what I feared most. I put my money down for season tickets and now they may strike. I do not blame the players on this one who should have free movement within the league if their contract is up. ImagineBeckham ‘retiring’ from the Galaxy at the end of a season only to ‘unretire’ in the hopes of playing with Henry in New York only to be told by The Don that LA still owns your rights and that NY has to pay LA for you to play there. I know this is an extreme example but as silly as it sounds now think of the player who is making 12 or 17k a year being told the same thing. I know the league wants to grow at a slow pace but restricting player movement when you have how many teams that have either came into the league or are coming over the next 3 years sounds a little mickey mouse to me. MLS needs to change up some of these rules to be able to keep better players and bring even better ones into the league.
“There’s a power in a Union!”
you name equals the quality of your post.
who watches Jim Rome anyways.. guy is a tool, im surprised that he is still on the air
Horrible management of the negotiations process by the league. Failure to get the league going on its regular schedule would be a collossal failure. What is Garber thinking/doing??? The new CBA should have been agreed months ago.
WE ALL KNOW that if a strike happens our league is over! WE ALL need to start emailing, mailing twittering.. whatever to Garber an tell him TO GET HIS HEAD OUT OF HIS ASS!! I thought that he was smarter than this but apparantly not. Maybe us fans can have some influence on this! WE ARE what made the MLS what it is today!
yea I don’t think they are actually in violation of any of FIFAs rules… MLS just has ludicrous positions on right the players should have like the free agency thing.
Even if there isn’t a work stoppage Donovan should try to stay in Europe…. I’ll be very sad if he comes back willingly or if he’s forced. He’s playing so well over there. Who really gives a crap about the Galaxy anyways?
It was mentioned earlier here but I think this all comes down to one concept: protecting the legal status and arguments around the “single-entity” model. They give on that, they open themselves up for challenges later and the economics of the league are in peril. Single-entity is the holy grail and that is why the NFL is trying so hard with the American Needle case to backdoor their way into being a single-entity. I bet the MLS labor lawyers are dictating the conversation on free agency and other labor law issues and not giving an inch there.
I feel for the players like Hartman and Serioux and others but their plight is not going register with the owners.
here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHh0rf0ojEc
priceless!
LOL! I love MLS but could now not give two ishhes if they lockout or strike. They players view the teams as different entities, but they are not because it is one company. When waived or cut, the players can go find another league to play in. It is that simple. Dave Van Den Berg, if you don’t like it go back to the Nederlands. Hey Hartman, if you don’t like it, go “abroad” and get a job. MLS is one company, and free agency within a single company is recockulous. Its like “I don’t want to work for HP Denver because HP Dallas will pay me more.” What? Exactly.
None of the players or their union representatives have any idea of how business operate. Sure they are all free, they can find different leagues. I just don’t get the problem here.
If the players strike, its over for all of them. So effing what. I can still watch the important leagues on TV, and guess what, not a single MLS player has the quality to make it in one of those leagues.
Someone mentioned it earlier, but a work stoppage would be DEADLY in Philadelphia, Seattle, LA, and probably Salt Lake. There’s so much excitement around those teams right now, if there’s a stoppage it would kill it dead.
There is no FIFA calendar to sync with.
THAT’S the most annoying thing to me when people talk about going to a traditional calendar. The Russians and Ukrainians and Nordic countries are getting ready to start their seasons, and the South Americans play through the summer because it would be too freaking hot to play down there right now. The Australians are playing now because they’re in the same situation MLS is in; it is summer in Australia, and it’s the only time soccer can play without competition from the more established sports. This argument is so tired it barely merits argument anymore.
This will sound aggressive towards you, so preliminary apologies, but that is easily my least favorite historical proverb. I say this as a possessor of a history degree, and I just don’t think it applies at all. Every situation is different. The current MLS situation is hugely different from the NBA, MLB, and NHL situations, and the ramifications of it are also hugely different.
For a lot of these players if they can’t play in MLS then what are they going to do? USL?
Please tell me you’re joking. A lot of these players aren’t making much more than the fans paying to watch them. If they sit out it is a huge dent to their bottom line. The players would be taking a huge risk to sit out; the owners are taking a huge risk by essentially daring them to do so.
And i’m almost to the point of not getting an tickets for the opening game for seattle or any at all and just watch from home this season.
That’s exactly what they’re worried about, and it is a sensible enough fear with a salary cap in effect.
Still, I cannot believe the league won’t budge on anything with the players. That just seems ridiculous.
Last i heard FIFA stated that MLS wasn’t violation of any fifa rules and refused to get involved.
The league is taking such a hardline stance because if they give one inch on free agency, it destroys the notion of single entity. And if the single entity status is destroyed then all sorts of free agency can negotiated for by the players or sued for through court.
MLS was created by a group of owners who wanted to create a league that would never give the players any influence. They used their experience with the ownership of other teams in other sports to do this. The structure of the league will never change. If it does the league fails.
A strike or lockout would be devastating to MLS, and unconscionable as we head into the World Cup and campaign to host the WC in 2018 or 2022.
Free agency like MLB should not happen, but MLS has to give in on scenarios like Van Den Bergh’s.
I’m ready to buy season tickets for RBNY, but even the voicemail from Conor Chinn the other day won’t sway me until the CBA situation is resolved.
mm makes me want to watch Newsies! singing and dancing the players’ demands just may help!
The players are being selfish, think of all the fans that have been laid off; the players should be thankful they can bring them some cheer in their life…even for just 2 hours a week.
I’m telling Palin.
The only good thing that could come from this is a longer loan for Donovan.
Why would they care with a hard salary cap how much players could possibly get? Make absolutely no sense. Unless of course that many teams don’t even come close to the salary cap.
This would be devastating. The league needs to give something and get this moving.
I do, since I doubt any of the public will even notice.
Synching with the FIFA calendar is a non starter. You wanna come visit the Northeast or Upper Midwest right now and see why? So retarded.
For those who watched “The Office”: Remember when Michael found out that Toby has returned?
I will have the same response in front of my computer if a player’s strike/lockout happened.
NOOOOOOOOOOO! NOO! NO! NO! NO! No…….NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Fight the power. Power to the people. Who puts the balls in the back of the net? We do! Try doing that from your corner office.
No. A strike would not work for anyone. Players aren’t making money or even getting the oppurtunity to make more money by showing skills to the leagues in Europe. All of the good players would leave for Europe. No one would care about the MLS at all anymore. The only people that would profit from this are the USL and NASL. They would be the only soccer happening in America. They would have the opportunity to get better players in lower-level MLS players who can’t afford a strike. Everyone else would be out of a job.
I know I’m not Ives, but I think I outweigh him (275lbs). Free agency leads to competition for players, which leads bidding on players, which would inevitably lead to higher wages for all players in the league.
I think that’s the major concern by the league and clubs.
I have to disagree. “The players” as a whole are not in a better situation. Yes, the “better” players might be able to find work elsewhere, but what percentage of all MLS players could find work elsewhere? A majority of the players? I don’t think so, or A LOT more players would leave when their contracts are up. Let’s not exaggerate, it would be a small percentage.
You make it sound like it’s easy to make it in foreign leagues, or perhaps lots of players could earn the same money in the limited number of spots that would be available in the new 2nd division here. Plus, if players are under contract, even if there’s a lockout, can they play for another club? I’m no expert, but I wouldn’t think so.
And for those players who would be able to find work overseas, it’s not like they could just go get a team right away, as if they were free agents. Do you really think that if the teams were to lock the players out, or the players were to strike, then the teams or the league would be at all willing to let players go out on loan.
If there were a lock out or a strike, it would hurt the league, which by extension would hurt the majority of players, the ones for whom their best option for playing is in MLS. If MLS wasn’t their best option, they wouldn’t be here to begin with.
try AC St. Louis. They’ve signed like 8 left backs for some reason, and continue to do so. if you’re from st. louis they’ll sign you for sure.
Ives can you explain why would MLS would want clubs to be able to keep the rights of players whose contracts they terminated or allowed to end without a renewal offer???
I can’t think of a good business reason. I can see things like salary cap or developmental player wages or even guaranteed contracts in a league that still loses money overall, but why keep such a hardline stance on player rights???