Owners Will Pay, So ’95 All-Stars Will Play : Baseball: Game is set for July 11 after dispute over pension and welfare contributions is resolved.

Major league owners and players guaranteed the playing of the 1995 All-Star game Friday by resolving a dispute over the owners’ non-payment of pension and welfare contributions from last year’s game receipts. The ’95 game will be played July 11 at Arlington, Tex.

As part of the agreement reached by lawyers, the owners will make an $8.2-million payment by June 1 and a $7.8-million payment by Aug. 1.

In response, the National Labor Relations Board withdrew the unfair labor practice complaint it had filed against the owners for not making the ’94 payment on Dec. 14.

The trial on that complaint was scheduled to begin Monday before administrative law Judge Edwin Bennett. This complaint was to have been heard in conjunction with a second NLRB complaint regarding the owners’ unilateral attempt to eliminate free-agent bidding and salary arbitration when they withdrew the implemented salary cap to avoid NLRB sanctions in early February.

Owners and players agreed to postpone the trial on the second complaint until June 19 in an attempt to resolve it out of court, as they did the pension issue.

In the aftermath of a 232-day baseball strike, Friday’s developments were considered positive by both sides. Their ongoing dialogue, away from intense media scrutiny, could spawn resumption of meaningful negotiations on a long-term labor agreement, officials said.

“We’re going to continue to keep talking in an effort to try and broaden this,” union leader Donald Fehr said. “There is a long way to go and a lot of issues out there, but it’s not insignificant in the scope of things.”

Acting Commissioner Bud Selig agreed. He said Friday’s developments were important for both what they directly accomplished and as a possible catalyst “for further and more intense talks.”

He added: “Both sides are now moving in a more positive direction. It is the clubs’ hope we can soon reach a meaningful and long-term settlement.”

There have been no negotiations on the labor agreement since March 30, the day before U.S. District Judge Sonia Sotomayor granted an injunction that forced owners to comply with the terms of the expired bargaining agreement and led the players to end the strike.

Fehr said he plans to talk with Selig early next week. “You have to resolve things piece by piece after a dispute like this,” Fehr said. “We ought to be able to use [the pension agreement] as a steppingstone. It’s a clear indication we can work together.”

The talks that produced this agreement were encouraged by Bennett in a conference on May 1. Stan Jaspan, a Milwaukee lawyer, served as lead negotiator for the owners. The union was represented by Michael Weiner, Lauren Rich and Steve Fehr.

An upbeat Selig called it a “good couple of days for baseball,” also citing Thursday’s announcement that the Walt Disney Co. had reached agreement in principle to buy 25% of the Angels and assume control of the club. “Given all the negativism about baseball, it’s a very positive sign to have one of the world’s great companies want to buy in,” Selig said.

He added that the approval process would be expedited, but it was unlikely the owners would vote on the Angel deal at their meeting in Minneapolis June 6-8.