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CNN Sunday Morning

Baseball Players Union Board Meets Tomorrow to Discuss Strike

Aired July 07, 2002 - 07:20   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: In Major League Baseball, possible player strike, drug testing, eliminating some teams all loom large over Tuesday's All-Star game. The Players Union Board meets again tomorrow.

CNN's Josie Karp reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOSIE KARP, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Like the mammoth home-run and the spectacular diving catch on the field, baseball can inspire gasps of disbelief off the field. All you have to do is mention labor unrest again. On Monday in Chicago, player representatives will meet with Union officials to decide whether to set a strike date.

AL LEITER, NEW YORK METS PITCHER: It seems as though until either the owners take the bats and balls away from us or we say we're taking our glove and going home, nothing really is meaningful to the extent of seriously getting the deal done.

ROB MANFRED, MLB CHIEF NEGOTIATOR: If the Union sets a strike date, they're setting a strike date because they want to fight. I mean that's what it's about.

KARP: Officials from Major League Baseball and the Players Union met several times last month to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement without making any substantial progress toward resolving the major economic issues of revenue sharing and a luxury tax. Owners claim 21 teams lost money last season and results is a competitive imbalance that won't improve without economic overhaul.

STAN KASTEN, ATLANTA BRAVES PRESIDENT: And the losses that you've heard about for the last few years are staggering and whether you're counting day-to-day cash flow dollars or even bigger amounts when you include amortization. It's clearly hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars.

KARP: Players whose salaries now average about $2.4 million say they won't agree to a new deal that has the effect of imposing a salary ceiling.

JOHN SMOLTZ, ATLANTA BRAVES PITCHER: You get aside from their side that the whole industry is losing money and that the whole thing is bad and that we need to redo the whole thing.

KASTEN: We have competitors who have already endured this struggle, but the NBA and their players found a way. The NFL and their players found a way to come up with a system that allows the teams to thrive and allows the players to thrive, that allows fans assured continuity of their sport going forth.

KARP (on camera): The one expert not connected to either side suggest this time owners and players should try a different approach and voluntarily consult an independent arbitrator.

ERIC SCHMERTZ, FMR. N.Y. LABOR COMM.: Certain employees who are deeply involved in a labor dispute and their positions become rather rigid and maybe and unmovable, sometimes they want a push from a different source to help them get over their rigidity.

KARP (voice-over): If and when players and owners reach agreement on the economic issues, other matters like drug testing and international draft and maybe even contraction still have to be addressed. This is the ninth time in the last 30 years that owners and players have gone through the collective bargaining process. The eight previous attempts all resulted in a work stoppage.

In New York, I'm Josie Karp.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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