I'm going to make a third thread about the collective bargaining process, because, although many national baseball writers are writing - just get it done articles - they have no knowledge or experience about collective bargaining & have done no research on the subject. 1/x
I've been on about 10 term contract teams, 2 for my own bargaining units, 3 for my Union's management with our staff union, and the rest on behalf of air traffic controllers & other aviation safety professionals. I've also negotiated hundreds of mid-term agreements and 2/x
settlement agreements. Term collective bargaining agreements take months of preparation before the parties go to the table. Not only to negotiate the ground rules for bargaining, but also for the parties to prepare their proposals and anticipate the other party's proposals 3/x
a good team will do a lot of internal bargaining to eliminate proposals that will never be agreed to by the other side. It takes experience to do that and a mature relationship between the parties. Without that it bogs down the first couple months with non-sense before you 4/x
get to reasonable proposals that have a chance of moving the parties toward agreement. When one side is proposing a major overhaul to something that has been part of the master agreement for a long time, not only does it take a lot of work to explain it, but it also takes a 5/x
a lot of time to prepare an argument that makes sense to move to change the existing process. It can take a long time for the other party to respond to something that is earth moving. But, that's exactly what the owners are suggesting now through their proxies in the media 6/x
a new process for establishing salaries of employees. And, those proxies are saying, just get it done now. You mean like in the next two to three weeks, along with the health and safety concerns, which should take that long to address? It's completely naive, or intentionally 7/x
deceptive to suggest it can be done and baseball can be played. Such a deal would take about a year in my estimation. What about existing player contracts, establishing team minimums, how to distribute money that failed to meet the minimum, countless other things 8/x
that need to be considered. Oh, and while you're at it, get a couple things for yourselves too, like increased roster size and universal DH, and some other small potatoes issues that make it a fair deal for the players who would be giving up so much so quickly to make this 9/x
owner friendly deal.
Look, it would be optimistic to reach a deal on return to work health and safety protocols in two weeks to get spring training started by mid June. Reaching a deal on an entire CBA is just a silly idea and writers who propose it should be called out. 10/x
Look, it would be optimistic to reach a deal on return to work health and safety protocols in two weeks to get spring training started by mid June. Reaching a deal on an entire CBA is just a silly idea and writers who propose it should be called out. 10/x
I know they want to cover baseball again. I know they have relationships with the owners and some petty jealousies against the players. But, they should then be volunteering to sequester themselves from their families too and live in a hotel room for the remainder of the 11/x
season with a 75% cut in wages during that time. If they won't, they really shouldn't suggest that the players do it. The players already agreed to a prorated cut in wages, likely 50%. But, they should do more for the good of the game right? How about you tough guys? 12/12
