Breakthrough in MLS Impasse: Deal Announced Saturday Afternoon

By El Chupacabra
The New York Times is reporting:: "Major League Soccer and the union that represents its players announced a new five-year collective bargaining agreement after marathon negotiating sessions under the auspices of a federal mediator in Washington. The announcement came early Saturday afternoon on a conference call." 


The Washington Post reports that the owners agreed to a "re-entry draft" for players out of contract at the conclusion of the season.

Sigi Schmidt on the MLS CBA

Former Crew Skipper and soccer Zen Master Sigi Schmid this week had some perhaps unintentionally prophetic words on the current MLS labor showdown. Speaking on World Football Daily, the current Seattle Sounders coach drew on his background in business and accounting to size up the negotiations underway in D.C. between league management and the MLS Players Union.

"It's a negotiation, and when there's a negotiation there's going to be compromise, and compromise means that both parties give up something and both parties gain something," Schmid told WFD's Stephen Cohen and Kenney Hassan. "So, nobody gets their absolute world. Nobody ends up with the world according to the way they want it, and the other group doesn't end up with the world the way they wanted it. It ends up being somewhere in the middle."

"The give and take's got to come from both sides."

Whether he knew it or not, Schmid hit on the fundamental root of the current stand off. This is it: After 15 years of absolute control over the terms of labor in MLS, the men who control the capital, the owners find it inconceivable that they should give anything up. They have been incapable of compromise.

So, the negotiations have failed, the Collective Bargaining Agreement has expired, and we now sit just 7 days from a strike. And make no mistake, if the owners do not compromise, there will be a strike.

Speaking on Fox Football Fone In on Monday night, Kansas City Wizards union representative Josh Wolff reinforced all the signals that has been coming in to MLS Solidarity, the fan support group for the union.

"We obviously have a long week ahead of us ... We don't want to disappoint the fans," he said. "But unless there's something there that's fair for the players -- and that's all we're really asking for -- unless that's there, then we don't expect to be starting the season."

For his part, Schmid was characteristically balanced and hopeful.

"I can understand some of the points the players are raising. I can understand some of the points the owners are raising as well," he said.

A working class German immigrant, Schmid said the only experience he has had with work a stoppage was his brewery-worker father walking out with the Teamsters, which he said made for tough times.
  
"I've got my fingers crossed that it doesn't happen," he said.

The Mysteries of the MLS Labor Showdown

By Nordecke Luchador

Tune in this Tuesday to World Football Daily with Stephen Cohen and Kenny Hassan, when the head of MLS Solidarity will expose Don Garber, Mark Abbott and the other suits in the MLS front office for the soulless, shortsighted, corporate thugs that they are. The specific time will be announced Monday. As the Nordecke Luchador prepares to face the U.S. Soccer Nation, he offers this blog post to put the current labor struggle into perspective.

The Three Mysteries of the MLS Labor Showdown:

Mystery No. 1: What does the league want? Commissioner Garber has spoken  in Orwellian Doublespeak from the beginning, saying such nonsense as: "We remain hopeful" and "We will not agree to any deal that compromises the long-term viability of the league." But the league bosses have never once explained exactly why they believe the league cannot give the majority of players guaranteed rather than "semi-guaranteed" contracts and keep the league economically viable.  "Semi-guaranteed" means nothing. The current structure is so slanted in favor of the owners that it is an international embarrassment. 

  

Mystery No. 2: Where is the Union leadership? At a time when they clearly should be making their case forcefully and vocally, the Players Union has been silent. Sure, both the league and the players have agreed to a gag order imposed by Federal Mediator George H. Cohen, but there are ways around such an order that a savvy union could use to make their case to the public.  The home page for the MLS Players Union lists this top "news" item: Chicago Fire sign Dutch Player Collins John. There is nothing on the site about the most important moment in the history of the league, the union and perhaps American soccer history. The Union doesn't even acknowledge that there is a dispute and explain why they can't talk. The most recent "news release"  is an Aug. 14,2008, statement about the SuperLiga. . 

So kudos to Toronto FC defender Nick Garcia who broke the silence last week when he said he expects the players to strike if a new collective bargaining agreement is not negotiated before the start of the regular season. Article Here. 

But it remains a mystery why Bob Foose and the other union leaders don't find ways to garner more public understanding and support for their cause. If the public understood just how poorly the players are treated by the current CBA relative to every other major sports league, they might understand that this isn't a battle between million dollar athletes and million dollar owners.  This is about  a league that wants to maintain the status quo and continue to treat the product on the field (the labor) as second class citizens.  

Union President Bob Foose and the players are working to alter the structure of MLS player contracts. The current agreement offers few guaranteed contracts and "semi-guaranteed" contracts are anything but a legal, binding set of obligations by the league as they allow the team bosses to cut players before July 1 without having to fullfill their obligation under the terms of the original agreement  

Equally important there is no free agency, so a player who gets cut by the single-entity league has virtually no chance to seek employment on another team.  After players are released their teams retain their rights which forces other teams to trade for those rights if they want to sign that player.  This makes it very difficult for the players to negotiate in order to find a new home.  As such, they don't even own their own labor, which in this case is the talent they bring to the field as one of the best soccer workers in the entire US.  Remember, they aren't cut by their team per se, they are cut by the entire league.  This is tantamount to a worker at GM being fired and then prevented from taking his skills over to Ford.  In the rest of the working world it's called collusion, and it's unconstitutional and about as American as Vietnam, Halliburton and the River Rouge Massacre.  The end result is that players are entangled in options that maximize the power of the league over individual players to an extent that no American worker would tolerate.

The whole system is highly exploitive of lower-level players who are left with sweatshop wages and no measure of control over their careers. (Keep in mind, for example, that the Crew's Steven Lenhart’s base salary in 2009 was less than $34,000. This was a huge increase over his 2008 salary of $12,900 when he was on the developmental squad, but hardly the wage of someone whose skills place him in the top 1% of all American soccer workers).  For more on MLS salaries, read  this article from the Luchametric archive.

All the union wants is a collective bargaining agreement that is consistent with US sport economics and US labor values and that abides by the same rules as the rest of the soccer planet under FIFA. 

For a detailed analysis of the many injustices built into the present system by the MLS, read this article by the Houston Chronicle's Jose De Jesus Ortiz.     

Mystery No. 3: Who are the scabs? Reports have been inconsistent on the exact number of players who voted to strike last week. Steven Goff reported in his Soccer Insider "Blog" that the vote was 350-2. ESPN's Jeff Carlisle and other sources have reported the vote was 383-2. But no one has denied the story that the players voted overwhelmingly to strike if a deal is not reached by 12:01 March 23. And all reports are that there were only two dissenters. MLS Solidarity is working its networks to uncover the names, and when discovered they will be reported at www.Luchametric.com.

  

There are two sides to every struggle: What side, you on?

MLS Solidarity Sets Clock, Issues Edict

The fan group MLS Solidarity today added a countdown timer to its Web site to remind the U.S. soccer community and the capitalist money-grubbers in MLS management that time is running out to make a deal and save the season.

"Don Garber, Mark Abbott and the other bosses at MLS need to wake up and realize that we are dangerously close to the brink here," said MLS Solidarity Presidente Nordecke Luchador. "The clock is ticking for them to come to the table honestly."

The group has a Facebook page and an underground network of players and operatives within MLS. In addition to the countdown clock, MLS Solidarity issued the following edict:

We the fans of Major League Soccer call on the management of the league to finally abandon their dishonest, selfish position and come to the negotiating table in good faith. We stand in solidarity with the players, and we stand ready to support them by any means necessary. 

Multiple sources report that the players on Friday voted 383-2 to go on strike if a deal is not reached by 12:01 Eastern Time on March 23.

The union's collective bargaining agreement has expired, and league management have indicated they would be willing to start the season March 23 under the terms of the expired agreement. By voting to strike, the players have called the managers' bluff.

"They have not been negotiating in good faith, and we needed to show that we are united and serious," one player told MLS Solidarity. "We will not blink. If there's no agreement, we strike. Period."

Negotiators met twice this week with a federal mediator in Washington but the players moved no nearer their goals of more guaranteed contracts and greater free agency opportunities.

"The meetings this week were productive and we scheduled a number of additional meetings," MLS president Abbott lied to the Associated Press.

Remaining business for the group includes outing the 2 scabs who voted not to strike.

Group Formed to Support MLS Players Union

In  less than 24 hours nearly 100 people have signed on to a Facebook group formed to support the MLS Players Union in their struggle to achieve economic justice against the exploitive labor practices of the International House of Soccer (AKA Major League Soccer).

The Nordecke Luchador formed the group MLS Solidarity to show which side the fans are on.

"League bosses Don Garber and Mark Abbott (pictured at left) need to see that the fans will not tolerate the continued exploitation of the players," El Luchador said in a written statement. "We in Crew Soccer Nation call on our brothers and sisters in other Fandoms to step up, join our group and demonstrate where they stand. The old union cry is as true today as it was 50 years ago: 'Which Side Are You On?'"

For a detailed analysis of the many insustices built into the present system by the MLS , read this article by the Houston Chronicle's Jose De Jesus Ortiz.     

Don Garber's Own Words Deceive Him

What the MLS Commissioner never explains here is this: Why does the continued growth of the league depend on not honoring players' contracts? Why can't we honor players' contracts and still have economic success for the MLS?

Fellow Leftist in the Struggle Will Mediate MLS Labor Dispute

Things are looking up for the MLS Players Union, as the man assigned to arbitrate the ongoing labor dispute over the expired and oppressive Collective Bargaining Agreement is a long-time pro-labor activist appointed by Barack Obama to the federal agency responsible for resolving conflicts between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie.

Union President Bob Foose continues to refuse to comment on the situation, but the Associated Press reports that the capitalists who control the means of production at the International House of Soccer and the MLS Players Union “have accepted an offer from George H. Cohen, director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, to serve as mediator.”

According to this article from the Peggy Browning Fund, Cohen has a 40-year career supporting workers in their struggle against capitalists like Crew General Manager Mark McCullers and their multiple schemes for enriching themselves at the expense of the people who actually produce value in our economy.

According to the article, Cohen is known for his support of the “progressive, union and worker-friendly agenda.”

El Luchador stands side-by-side with all working people in the Crew Soccer Nation as we support our Brothers in Black and Gold in their struggle against the dark side of the Force.

And we salute George H. Cohen for agreeing to help us in our fight to bring economic justice to the MLS.

Columbus and Union Until I Die!

Which side are you on?

Luchador's Return

Christmas vacation is finally over for the Nordecke Luchador as he returns from his extended annual sabbatical in Cuba, the motherland.

For those who requested cigars, send a note on Facebook.

Much has transpired this winter while the Masked One was away.

• The capitalist overlords who run the International House of Soccer have stubbornly pushed MLS to the brink of ruin in their blind and brutal beat down of the workers. Talks continue to get a new collective bargaining agreement. El Luchador predicts the season will start as scheduled, but the dispute will drag on well into the year with a real potential for work stoppage before the play-offs.
• Schelotto stood his ground against party boss Mark McCullers and will stay another season.
• The Crew signed strength up front to replace Alejandra Moreno with the signing of Columbian Sergio Herrera. 
• And Jed Zayner launched, then apparently killed a blog that was at times entertaining, vulgar, informative and even occasionally grammatically correct.  

Now we stand with just days until the season starts with what my comrade Eric Paxton calls "Crewsgiving," the CONCACAF Champions League match versus Toluca March 9.

This is an extra bonus game that is a vestige of the 2008 Miracle on Grass season.

Dear faithful readers, El Luchador is back. Does my Massiveness offend you?

Union Till I Die: Which Side Are You On?

By El Luchador
The capitalists who run the International House of Soccer (MLS) have long treated the workers like 19th Century French coal miners. For some time now, El Luchador’s sources within the soccer labor movement have warned that negotiations have not gone well for the collective bargaining agreement that expires at the end of this year.

The Columbus Dispatch this morning sensationalizes the situation on its front page. (Read article here.)

Brother Shawn Mitchell writes:

Major League Soccer players will strike or be locked out next season unless collective-bargaining negotiations between their union and the league make a drastic improvement, sources with knowledge of negotiations said.

A collective-bargaining proposal made by the league last week was "very disappointing," said Crew goalkeeper William Hesmer.

Set aside for a moment that Ohio's Greatest Home Newspaper will only put soccer on the front page when it is a negative story about a labor dispute. (Just think if the Crew were building a casino).

The Major League Soccer Players Union was formed in April 2003 to promote the best interests of all MLS Players. The founding members of the Players Union’s Executive Board included Landon Donovan, Tim Howard, Chris Klein, Alexi Lalas and Ben Olsen. The Players Union serves as the exclusive collective bargaining representative for all current players in Major League Soccer.

League Pit Boss Don Garber strikes an optimistic tone in the Mitchell article, saying there is “plenty of time to finalize a new agreement … There will be many more meetings, many more discussions about a wide variety of issues.

El Luchador encourages his faithful followers to read the current collective bargaining agreement, which is available here.

You will see that it is structured to give the capitalists who control the means of production at the International House of Soccer the maximum ability to exploit the labor of the brave men who actually go out on the field and do the work.

Essentially, the American economic model for professional soccer is a form of 21^st Century indentured servitude.

Union President Bob Foose and the players are working to alter the structure of MLS player contracts. The current agreement does not offer guaranteed contracts, or any form of free agency and entangles the players in one-way options that maximize the power of the teams over individual players. In most cases, players are forced to sign semi-guaranteed contracts, which allow the team bosses to cut players before July 1 without having to pay out their contracts.

This is highly exploitive of the lower level players, who are left with sweatshop wages and no measure of control over their careers. (Keep in mind, for example, that Steven Lenhart’s base salary this year was less than $34,000. That was a huge increase over his 2008 of $12,900.) For more on MLS salaries, read this article from the Luchametric archive.

After players are released, their teams retain their rights, which forces other teams to trade for those rights if they want to sign that player, thus making it very difficult for the players to negotiate and find a new home.

All the union wants is a collective bargaining agreement that abides by the same rules as the rest of the planet under FIFA.

As Crew Midfielder Brian Carroll told the Dispatch: “It's about rights more than money. But we want things to be fair. That's all anybody can ask for."

El Luchador stands behind his brothers in Black & Gold and across the MLS as they fight for economic justice.