1994 Baseball Strike and 2002 Collective Bargaining Agreemen
Major League Baseball is viewed by most Americans as a source of entertainment. Millions of people turn out during a regular season to see there favorite teams and players play a good game of baseball. However, few see the other side of this form of entertainment. Baseball is as much of a business as it is a source of recreation. Billions of dollars are invested in baseball and sometimes, millions are lost. The players and owners each have a responsibility to keep this business running good and to make sure no money is lost. To keep it running well, the owners and the players need to agree on things such as salary caps, free agency, taxes, and contraction. All of these things can help business run well and keep some teams from dominating the league and ruining this business. Baseball does not have any form of salary cap, although it does have a luxury tax on clubs that annually spend beyond a certain amount on salaries. The first discussion of the salary cap in baseball negotiations occurred in 1989-90 (Staudohar). The owners proposed a cap that would limit the amount of salary any team could pay to players. Those players with 6 years or more of experience could become free agents. However, they would not be signed by
On Sept. 14, 1994, acting commissioner Bud Selig announced that the remainder of the 1994 season, including the World Series, would be canceled. Because of the strike, 669 regular-season games were canceled, not including the postseason play-offs and the World Series. Major League Baseball, a $2 billion industry, thus entered what Selig termed "uncharted territory" as it headed toward an uncertain winter after revenue losses estimated at $800 million ("Year In Review"). percent to 50 percent and a 50 percent luxury tax on the portion of any team's player payroll Twice during the past 7 years, the MLB Player's Union, and the MLB owners have sat down to discuss issues such as salary cap, free agency, competitive balance, and revenue sharing. During the one time they couldn't come to an agreement, over $800 million was lost. No business would be able to run itself after continually losing $800 million. However, both the owners and the players smartened up the second time around and were able to reach an agreement before another strike could ruin this business permanently. On August 18th, the players union set a strike date for August 30th. The Union wanted to set a strike not to threaten the owners, but to use it as deadline to get the deal done. The two sides made several counter offers between these two dates. But on September 9th, the Player's Union and the owners came to an agreement. With a 26-1 vote by the owners, the agreement secured labor peace through the 2006 season. The details of the agreement are as follows:
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2192
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)
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