Labor Talks Yield No Progress

Amid the likelihood that the baseball players’ union will set a strike date at some point next week, the resumption of bargaining negotiations in New York on Monday failed to produce a breakthrough on the key issue of revenue sharing.

The sides met twice for a total of about 3 1/2 hours, but neither side would characterize the status of their discussions about revenue sharing, which involve the amount to be shared and the method of distribution.

The union did make a benefit plan proposal that was “positively received” by management, according to Rob Manfred, baseball’s lead labor lawyer.

“We’d had enough discussions that we knew where they were coming in, and it was within the range we expected,” Manfred said, which would suggest, at the least, that one more secondary issue is off the table.

In the meantime, responding to a suggestion made by Al Kaline during Hall of Fame festivities in Cooperstown, N.Y., 40 members of the Hall sent a letter to Commissioner Bud Selig saying that another work stoppage would be a “terrible mistake” and urging him to agree to impartial mediation.

“To protect the game we all love and have given so much to, we suggest you agree to a qualified mediator that will allow you to find the common ground necessary to avoid a work stoppage,” the players wrote.

Selig, in a statement, thanked the players but said the best way to settle the issue is through collective bargaining.

Former President Jimmy Carter recently volunteered to serve as a mediator, a role that has never proved beneficial during baseball’s long and troubled labor history. Former President Bill Clinton volunteered the services of nationally known mediator William J. Usery during the 1994-95 dispute, but Usery was unable to solve the problems that produced a 232-day strike. Selig and union leader Don Fehr met privately in Cooperstown on the weekend, but neither would reveal what they discussed.