If this strike go ahead it's doom for football in the USA
SEATTLE (AP)
Kasey Keller wants to make sure fans who hear about a possible strike in Major League Soccer understand the current standoff is about player rights and not salaries.
"This is truly a case of guys who could make more money going out and getting a job, but they're trying to live out the dream,'' Keller said on Friday.
The Seattle Sounders goalkeeper said he wasn't surprised when the MLS Players Union announced Thursday it voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike if a new collective bargaining agreement isn't reached by March 25, when the Sounders host expansion Philadelphia in the league opener.
The league's first collective bargaining agreement, a five-year deal, originally was set to run out Jan. 31 but was extended twice while negotiations continued. It expired Feb. 25 after the MLS Players Union refused another extension.
Negotiators for management and players met Tuesday and Wednesday in Washington, D.C., in talks convened by George H. Cohen, director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.
All the players are asking for are rights players have in other leagues around the world, Keller said. He understands that when the previous deal was agreed to, players needed to make concessions to keep the league going.
Now that the league has a solid base and is expanding into new markets, and Keller said it's time for the players to get some of those concessions back.
"I understand where the league was coming from five, 10 years ago when it was up against the wall if we were going to still have a league,'' Keller said.
"That's now no longer the case and some of the things they were able to get away with just can't happen anymore.''
Keller has been on teams in the top leagues in Europe - the English Premier League, La Liga in Spain and living in a castle while playing in Germany's Bundesliga. Keller spent the 2007-08 season playing with Fulham in the EPL, but found himself mostly in a reserve role.
Unhappy with the single-entity structure that has seen the league negotiate all contracts since play began in 1996, players want greater free-agent rights and a higher percentage of guaranteed deals.
Player income averaged $147,945 at the start of last season, according to the union. But the median - the point at which an equal amount make above and below - was $88,000 for 323 players listed.
"It's something that everyone needs to realize that this thing being positive for the players in the end is positive for the league, which in the end is positive for the owners,'' said Seattle's Peter Vagenas, about to begin his 11th MLS season.
"Because quite frankly the rest of the world looks at some of the rules and regulations we abide by and it sort of adds to the stereotype of this league not being top quality.''
The threat of a strike comes as the Philadelphia Union, the league's 16th team, is set to start play at Seattle in the league opener. While Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J., is to open with an exhibition between New York and Brazil's Santos on March 20, a strike would postpone the first league match at the $200 million soccer-specific stadium, against Chicago on March 27.
Earlier this week, Seattle's designated player, Swedish star Freddie Ljungberg, said when he flew over from Europe to join the Sounders preseason training in early February he was told a deal was imminent.
Both Keller, 40, and Vagenas say they remain optimistic something will get settled before the Sounders are supposed to take the field in less than two weeks against Philadelphia. But they also insist the players are united in making sure they receive what they believe is a fair deal.
"I'm quite frankly shocked to see it still at this point with the league still dragging its feet,'' Vagenas said.
"We're very much behind the rest of the world, rest of the leagues in terms of players rights. ... We understand the sport in this country isn't the NFL, but at the same time there are certain rights players should have and we don't have.''
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jt, apparently there are no guaranteed contracts in MLS and also no free agency. So a player may get cut from a team and not get paid the rest of his contract, but at the same time, the league still owns his rights so he can't just go look for another team, it has to be agreed by the league first.
but really, would the casual American "Soccer Fan" care if they went on strike? It is a world cup year, European and Latin american leagues are shown on TV regularly. This strike would hurt no one but the players & owners of the MLS.
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the main sticking point does appear to be their desire for limited free agency within the league.
Currently, MLS players who play out their contracts are not allowed to become free agents inside MLS and entertain multiple competing bids from MLS teams. The way the owners see it, players can always get competing bids from other leagues, both in the U.S. (as Steve Ralston did by joining second-division St. Louis) and other countries. The players, in turn, argue that not having internal free agency denies them basic rights that are granted to soccer players in other leagues around the world.
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MLS, union sign 5-year labor deal
Story Highlights Negotiators began intensive talks Thursday; the deal was signed Saturday Under the deal, players will receive guaranteed contracts for the first time There will be increased player rights within the league when contracts expire
NEW YORK (AP) -- Major League Soccer and its players have signed a five-year labor contract that avoided a strike scheduled before the MLS season opener on March 25.
Negotiators began intensive talks Thursday in Washington, D.C., and the deal was signed shortly after 1 p.m. Saturday.
"This can all be a positive relationship going forward," Los Angeles Galaxy star Landon Donovan said. "Going forward we're going to have a real relationship with the league as opposed to being combative at times."
MLS Players Union head Bob Foose said a majority of players will receive guaranteed contracts for the first time and there will be increased player rights within the league when contracts expire.
"From our perspective, these negotiations were always about players' rights," Foose said, with his members wanting to bring their rights "more in line with leagues from around the world."
"Soccer is a global game and we were adamant that these changes were necessary to make MLS as competitive as possible," Foose said.
Talks went overnight until 2 a.m. Friday and 8 a.m. Saturday, with players watching NCAA tournament games.
"This is a great way for Major League Soccer to start its season," MLS commissioner Don Garber said.
Management was opposed to free agency within MLS, which has negotiated all contracts as a single entity on behalf of its teams since play began in 1996. MLS said players always had the option of signing with clubs overseas.
"Players will have greater rights at the expiration of their agreements but they will not be free agents within the league," Garber said.
Instead, there will be a re-entry draft for players whose contracts end, options are declined or who reach a certain age.
"We think we have made some real improvements in players' ability to move," Foose said.
The union said March 11 it would strike if an agreement wasn't reached before March 25. Player representatives flew in to attend talks, including Donovan, the league MVP. The Los Angeles Galaxy star completed a 10-week loan to Everton last weekend and said he might return to England in the event of a strike.
"It was not fun. It was tiring," Garber said, "but it was very productive."
The talks were supervised by George H. Cohen, director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, and Garber credited Cohen and his staff for helping forge a deal. Cohen said he tried to reach agreement on smaller issues to build momentum and get the sides to realize "Western civilization does not hang in the balance."
Player income averaged $147,945 at the start of last season, according to the union. But the median -- the point at which an equal amount make above and below -- was $88,000 for 323 players listed.
Garber said Seattle and Toronto were the only profitable MLS teams last year.
"We also collectively agreed that we need to grow our television ratings and attendance," Garber said. "Perhaps five years from now we have a league that's operating with all teams at a profit."
A joint player-management task force will come up with proposals to improve the league and player development.
"What I learned in this process is the players have some pretty darn good ideas," Garber said, "We'll try to find ways that we could make money together. We'll find ways that they could have a greater say in discipline."
A strike would have disrupted planning to some extent for the U.S. national team ahead of the World Cup in June. While most of the players on the 23-man roster are likely to be selected from European clubs, a delay in the start of the MLS season would have left the U.S.-based players with no matches to get sharp ahead of the start of national team training camp in mid-May.
The league notified the union that medical, dental and vision insurance would expire March 31 in the event of a strike, and players would have to continue coverage under the federal COBRA program. Life insurance would end on the start date of a strike, and players could covert to individual coverage.
"I think it's been a very productive few weeks. I think we're all mainly excited that we get to play soccer this year, and I think we're all very proud of what we've accomplished here," Donovan said. "This is not a one-day celebration. This is a start of many, many good things to come for many years for our players in our league."
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The new CBA in brief ... by Ridge Mahoney, March 22nd, 2010 3:29AM
[MLS] While the MLS Board of Governors and MLS Players Union must ratify the new collective bargaining agreement before they will announce its details, here are some of the key provisions ...
Salary Cap: For 2010, the salary cap will be $2.55 million per team (it was $2.32 million in 2009). It will increase at a basic five percent per year.
Minimum Salary: For 2010, the minimum salary for non-developmental players is $40,000 ($34,000 in 2009). Each will increase at a basic five percent per year, though for older players the minimum will be greater.
Guaranteed Contracts: Players 24 years old with three or more MLS seasons of experience get the fourth year of their contract (and all years in subsequent contracts) guaranteed. (The July 1 contract guarantee date is excised from standard contracts. For players who qualify, their contracts are guaranteed for that year once their options are exercised, except in extreme circumstances.)
Options: For players 25 years old with at least four MLS seasons of experience, there will be only two years of unilateral options in their contracts, rather than three. Subsequent option years are mutual options.
Players who are out of contract or whose options are declined: They will go into a special draft, details to be decided of how teams or players are "ranked" and how the process will function.
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MLS minimum salary rises to $40,000 in labor deal
NEW YORK (AP) -Major League Soccer's minimum salary for senior players will rise to $40,000 this season, and the developmental minimum will go up to $31,250 under the five-year labor contract agreed to last weekend.
Last year, 40 players among 323 listed by the MLS Players Union at the start of the season made the $34,000 minimum and 12 more made the developmental minimum of $20,100. The senior salary will increase 5 percent annually.
As part of the deal, each team's salary budget will rise from $2.3 million last year to $2.55 million this season, the league announced Tuesday. It will then increase 5 percent a year.
Players who are at least 24 and have three or more years of MLS service will have guaranteed contracts - giving the league a majority of players with guaranteed deals for the first time.
Players had been threatening to strike ahead of Thursday's league opener. Although they fell short of gaining free agency, the league is establishing a re-entry draft.
Players 23 and over with three years of service whose options are not exercised will be available at the declined option price. Players 22 and over with one year of service whose deals are terminated and asked to take pay cuts will be available at their last salary.
Players 30 and over with eight years of service whose contracts have expired will go into the draft unless offered a 5 percent raise. If a player in that category winds up in the draft, he will be available at 105 percent of his previous salary.
Those 25 and over with four years of service and expired contracts will go into the draft unless offered at least the same salary from the previous season. If in the draft, players can be selected at the same salary as in the previous year.
The league will be limited to two options for players at least 25 with four years of service and to three options for others.
Players making less than $125,000 annually must receive 10 percent increases in base salary if appearing in two-thirds of a team's games and 12 percent raises if playing in three-quarters of matches.
Players also will get bonuses for wins and appearances fees for exhibitions against international teams.
The league and union will have a joint committee to study restarting the reserve division, eliminated after the 2008 season.
