Salary Cuts Not Addressed : MISL Players Union First Tries to Gain Bargaining Power

In an effort to gain bargaining power, representatives of the Major Indoor Soccer League Players Assn. made some demands of owners in a meeting held in Washington Tuesday to discuss the proposed league-wide salary cuts.

John Kerr, the players association director, and Bill Kentling, MISL commissioner, met for three hours but did not discuss the Feb. 25 mandate issued by owners that said the league’s per-team salary cap would have to be reduced from $1.25 million to $898,000 in order for the league to survive.

Instead, Kerr said the players association would not start negotiations until:

--The league office forces owners to pay money owed to the union under the injury protection clause of the collective bargaining agreement. According to Kerr, five players who were injured last season while not under contract were not paid $2,500 per month, as stipulated. Kerr said that Kentling issued a directive to owners to pay the money but that the owners have yet to pay.

“I didn’t issue a directive, but I did say that I would have our attorneys look at the situation,” Kentling said in a telephone interview. “When they are satisfied with everything, the money would be paid out.”

--The league gives up the money it has made on a deal with Pacific Trading Cards Inc. to produce MISL trading cards. Kerr says the league went against the collective bargaining agreement by making a deal without first consulting the union. Neither Kerr nor Kentling would say how much money is involved.

--The league pays the union $77,000 in pension benefits. Kerr said in a telephone interview this is a small stumbling block because Kentling told him the money is on the way.

“If they can find resolutions to the issues we brought up, we’ll sit down and begin talking about the salary cap,” Kerr said.

The owners have set an April 15 deadline for the players association to accept an overall 33% cut. Otherwise, they say, the league will be terminated in June.

“I will be talking to the board of directors (at 9 a.m. today) to relay to them the requests the players association made,” Kentling said. “I sense, and I hope my sense is correct, that both sides want the same thing, and that is for the league to continue.”

For that to happen, however, the salary cap issue must be worked out. Kentling said that after he talks to members of the board of directors today, he will call Kerr. He said another meeting has not yet been set.

Player representatives Kevin Crow of the Sockers and Scott Manning of Baltimore also attended Tuesday’s meeting. Crow was in route from Washington to Tacoma, where the Sockers will play tonight, and was unavailable for comment.