Whether or not that works — this is the sport’s first offseason lockout, so who knows — the reality is that Major League Baseball is now experiencing its first labor stoppage since the players’ strike of 1994-95.
The current lockout marks the ninth work stoppage in modern MLB labor history — i.e., since Marvin Miller became head of the Players Association in the late 1960s and made it into an actual functioning union.
What it was over: The players’ three-year pension agreement with owners had expired, and teams were resistant to even modest increases in benefits.
What it was over: The spring training lockout, which delayed the opening of camps but didn’t affect the regular season, was undertaken in the absence of a new CBA.
What it was over: In one of the great tectonic shifts in league history, Miller and the union were able to win the right to free agency when in December of 1975 independent arbitrator Peter Seitz ruled in favor of the players’ position in their dispute with owners.
Curt Flood pioneered the legal assault on the reserve clause with his 1972 Supreme Court case, but it wasn’t until Seitz’s ruling some three years later that players won the right to become free agents.
In May, players and owners agreed in principle to a new CBA, but critically they also agreed to revisit the issue of free agency the following offseason.
What it was over: This brief strike was owing to a dispute over owner pension contributions and the owners’ desire for a cap on salary arbitration earnings by players.
Why it mattered: During the lockout, commissioner Fay Vincent held a press conference in which he proposed ending the lockout in exchange for a “no strike” pledge from the union.
Throughout the 232-day strike, the owners’ lead negotiator resigned, a federal mediator tried and failed to bring the two sides together, owners implemented a salary cap, the union declared all unsigned players to be free agents, and Selig and his fellow owners attempted to populate rosters with replacement players/scabs.
Why it mattered: It remains the nuclear war of MLB labor stoppages, and it damaged the game for years to come.
A host of economic points of conflict must be resolved before a new agreement is in place, and the lockout will not end until a new CBA is provisionally agreed to.