Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 9, 1990 TAG: 9003091791
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MURRAY CHASS NEW YORK TIMES
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Medium
The Player Relations Committee, in a news release prepared before the commissioner announced his offer, instantly agreed to end the lockout "so long as the players' association shows the same concern for the fans and the game and promises not to strike during the course of the season and postseason."
About an hour after Vincent's news conference, union officials said they had not received a formal request from the commissioner, but they rejected it anyway.
"No self-respecting union gives away the right to strike," said Gene Orza, the union's associate general counsel. "They can keep saying no, no, no, and what are we going to do about it?
"They all knew in advance the answer we would give. It wasn't asked to get an answer. It was a public-relations event."
On a day when no negotiations were held, the labor dispute was left in an uncertain state. The owners did modify their proposal on a $4 million bonus pool for players with two to three years of major-league service, but the players showed no more inclination to accept the modification than they did to accept the original plan.
The owners, for their part, expressed no interest in the players' proposal Wednesday in which 50 percent of players in the two- to three-year group would be eligible for salary arbitration and 50 percent would not.
Don Fehr, the players' labor leader, said Thursday's developments were aimed at diverting attention from the players' proposal.
Arbitration eligibility is the critical issue in the dispute, which has made it almost impossible for the regular season to begin April 2 as scheduled.
Vincent said: "While it is my hope that the parties will be able to reach an agreement, it is now apparent that this must be accomplished in the next few days, or we will have to postpone the start of the 1990 championship season.
"For millions of fans, risking the integrity of the season in the hope that the parties can resolve their dispute is not an acceptable alternative.
"However, it is equally unacceptable to substitute the current lockout for a mid-season strike. Accordingly, I am asking the clubs to open the training camps in exchange for a pledge from the players not to strike during the 1990 season."
On March 17, 1976, at the urging of some owners, Commissioner Bowie Kuhn ordered camps opened after a 23-day lockout. Vincent said previously that he would not order camps to be opened.
"I do not like the idea of the commissioner of baseball opening camps," Vincent said. "It is something that should be done by agreement.
"I'm taking this action because, as of last night, I concluded that an agreement is not likely to be reached in the short term."
Minutes before Vincent began his news conference, Fehr, in his office with two reporters, did not know what the commissioner was about to do.
Mark Belanger, a union official, came to Fehr's office and told him players were calling saying they had heard on television that the lockout was being lifted. Fehr told Belanger to call Chuck O'Connor, the owners' labor spokesman, and ask him about it.
A minute later, Belanger returned and said, "He said the commissioner is having a press conference, but it is not about lifting the lockout."
Fehr, at his news conference later, said that in a private meeting with Vincent late the previous night, "he asked me if this was an idea we could find acceptable, and I said no and explained why."
"He knew it wouldn't fly," Fehr said. "Any labor lawyer on their side knew it wouldn't fly."
The commissioner's offer and the owners' instant acceptance, Fehr said, were "essentially a public-relations effort."
"They correctly perceived, from a public-relations standpoint, the lockout has been a disaster," he said.
Bud Selig of the Milwaukee Brewers, chairman of the PRC board, denied the owners regretted the lockout.
"The lockout was designed to produce an agreement," Selig said. "It hasn't produced an agreement. It doesn't make the lockout a failure."
O'Connor, appearing with Selig, acknowledged there was a legal basis for the union's concern about a no-strike pledge. He said if the union would offer a no-strike pledge and ask for assurances from the owners that they wouldn't change terms and conditions, the PRC would consider it.
Fehr said he had had no discussions on the matter because no one had approached him other than the commissioner, and then only briefly.
"If they ever get around to formally making it, we'll respond to it, but I suspect they won't," Fehr said.
by CNB