Strike date? What strike date?þþIn the wake of a published report that the union had tentatively set Sept. 16 as a strike date, Donald Fehr sent a memo to major league player representatives yesterday saying that the report was erroneous and that no date had been determined. He asked the representatives to make sure they relayed that information to their teammates.þþÿNo date has been set, and consideration of a date hasn't begun,ÿ Fehr, the union's executive director, said by telephone from Cincinnati, where he met with the Pittsburgh Pirates. ÿWe hope we don't have to consider a date. The object is to reach agreement.ÿþþUnless their negotiations with club representatives take an unexpected turn quickly, the players are expected to set a date early next month. But the date does not figure to be the one The Los Angeles Times reported yesterday. People on the union side have said for some weeks that the union's executive board would not wait until that late in the season for a walkout if no agreement is reached. Others have speculated that by waiting until then, the players would avoid being on strike Sept. 11, the first anniversary of the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington.þþA lawyer close to the union said the players prefer not to strike and prefer not to be on strike Sept. 11. But the players, the lawyer said, have not indicated opposition to being on strike that day if the executive board deems it the right step to walk out before Sept. 11.þþOn the other hand, the lawyer added, by striking earlier, sometime in August, the players could be back playing by that date if a walkout hastens an agreement. þþThe players struck on Aug. 12, 1994, believing their action would prompt the two sides to work out a new labor contract before the end of the season. But the World Series wound up being canceled, it took a judge's ruling to start the 1995 season, and negotiators did not reach agreement until late in 1996.þþOne other theory was offered for the Sept. 16 date: the players would have received all but their last paycheck by then. But no matter when they might strike, players would not lose pay for days they play.þþPlayers are paid twice a month, and if they were to strike in the middle of a pay period, they would be paid for the days in that period that they played. In 1994, for example, they were paid through Aug. 11.þþWhen the union's executive board met in Chicago on July 8, it opted not to set a strike date. Instead, it decided that the player representatives would seek strike authorization votes from their teams. Teams have been voting on that authorization after meeting with Fehr and receiving a status report on negotiations.þþFehr plans to meet with teams the rest of this week and next week. Once he completes the meetings, the board will assess where negotiations stand and decide if it should set a strike date and what that date should be. It is almost a foregone conclusion that a date will be set.þþNegotiators will resume their talks tomorrow in Manhattan and are also scheduled to meet Thursday and Friday. In discussing revenue sharing last Friday, the two sides determined that they were $70 million apart on the amount of money their proposals would transfer from wealthier teams to poorer teams.þþBut they not only would have to reach a compromise on that figure, but would also have to work out a way to mesh the different methods they want to use to distribute the money.þþOne major issue they have not addressed is the clubs' desire for a tax on portions of payrolls of more than $98 million. The union opposed such a payroll tax, especially when it works in combination with the sharing of local revenue. The payroll tax would hit the same teams as the revenue sharing plan, and the union is concerned that the double hit would inhibit some teams from paying players the way they have in recent years.þþþþ
Source: NY Times
