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Strike Looms as League, Union Walk Away |
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Posted by: James on Feb 25, 2010
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 by James Oliphant
GoTorontoFC.com
Statements were released by both the MLS Players Union and Major League Soccer regarding the CBA talks, which were put on hold yesterday.
While there appears to be no imminent strike action planned, talks have broken down and both parties have walked away from the bargaining table. This has led some to speculate there may be a work stoppage before the season begins.
First, the statement from MLS:
"During the last year, Major League Soccer has been negotiating with the MLS Players Union on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. The current CBA expires today and the Players Union would not agree to a further extension.
"We have told the Players Union that the League does not plan to lock out the players and we are prepared to begin the season under the current CBA while we continue to bargain to reach agreement on a new CBA.
"We have listened to the issues raised by the MLS Players Union and the League has made detailed proposals that have addressed these issues, including in the areas of economics, guaranteed contracts, options and the ability of a player to move to another MLS Club if he is released by his current Club. These proposals, which represent substantial changes from the current CBA, will significantly increase our spending and provide substantially more rights to the players."
Next, the statement from MLSPU:
"Effective at midnight tonight, our collective bargaining agreement with MLS will expire,” MLSPU executive director Bob Foose said.
While we expect that negotiations with MLS will resume at some point, there simply hasn’t been enough progress made in the negotiations to date to warrant an extension of the old agreement. We have advised our players to keep working for the time being, but as of Friday they will be doing so without a CBA. In the meantime, all options are being considered as the process continues. We are completely committed to forging real changes to the way MLS players are treated.” |
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