The executive board of the Major League Baseball Players Association met here Monday but did not set a strike date. The only hard news, revealed after a five-hour meeting, was that 75 percent of the players have been polled and are willing to strike if the owners refuse to eliminate their demand for team salary caps and other “take-back” proposals.
Don Fehr, the union chief, said the vote “so far is virtually unanimous-not quite, but virtually so.”
Fehr also indicated the vote of the remaining seven clubs could be reported by telephone. Whatever, he already has a majority in favor of a shutdown, eliminating the necessity of a second vote.
Fehr emphasized there was never an intention to set a strike date at this time.
When a reporter asked Gene Orza, counsel for the players, if the failure to set a strike date could be interpreted as a sign of weakness, Orza replied:
“Definitely not. It’s a sign of serene confidence.”
A total of 32 players, representing each of the 28 big-league clubs, attended the meeting at the Sheraton Square Hotel. All fled through a side door to avoid interviewers.
Fehr conceded a “wide range” of potential strike dates was discussed.
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“We talked about which dates made the most sense,” Fehr said at a crowded press conference. “But there was no general dispute among the players. They said, `If we have to do it, we’ll do it.’ “
Fehr reiterated that the owners’ demand for a salary cap would lower player compensation.
“In a nutshell, it would destroy free agency and salary arbitration and, in addition, transfer hundreds of millions of dollars of licensing revenues (from the players) to the owners,” he said.
Fehr was asked for a yes or no answer if he believed a compromise was possible.
He hedged and said, “You can’t be in this business without being optimistic to some degree, but it doesn’t look very good. The fans should understand this fight is not of the players’ choosing. The owners are the aggressors. They want us to agree to a procedure that would substantially reduce the players’ worth.”
An hour later, the owners countered with another press conference, with Dick Ravitch presiding. Ravitch is management’s principal negotiator, Fehr’s match in verbal gymnastics.
As could be expected, Ravitch challenged most of Fehr’s claims and said he was eagerly waiting the union’s first counterproposal, which Fehr has promised to deliver within four or five days.
“I stand ready, willing and able and will be available to continue negotiations,” the barrel-chested Ravitch announced. “I will meet with Mr. Fehr any day. Any night. Close the door. And sit down until this is resolved. This is not a poker game we are trying to win. We are not asking the players to take salary cuts. If they accept our proposals, salaries will increase, not decrease.”
Ravitch also indicated that if a settlement is not reached by Nov. 1, the owners may declare an impasse. That would allow them to rewrite the Basic Agreement, the contract that binds both sides. The owners would then be in position to put into effect all of their proposals.
“We are going to exercise the rights of any employer,” Ravitch said. “If there is a strike, I see no reason why we should not use all the legal measures available.”
Ravitch also warned the players that the owners are united as never before.
“I’m aware of the history of the previous negotiations,” Ravitch said. “Some of the players think that all the union has to do is say boo and the owners will fold their tent. Not this time.”
Lots of tough talk. But as Winston Churchill once observed, “Better to jaw-jaw than wah-wah.”