Baseball's bargaining talks resume

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Posted 7:07AM on Wednesday, January 30, 2002

Baseball's slow-moving collective bargaining talks resumed Tuesday with a three-hour session in Scottsdale, Ariz. Commissioner Bud Selig asked players on Jan. 10 to accept a 50 percent luxury tax on the portions of payrolls above $98 million and to allow clubs to increase the percentage of locally generated revenue they share, after a deduction for ballpark expenses, from 20 percent to 50 percent. ``We talked about contraction issues and overall collective bargaining issues,'' union head Donald Fehr said. Fehr said at a Jan. 17 news conference that the proposals were difficult for his side to deal with and also pointed out that for the years the union agreed to a luxury tax in the previous contract (1997 to 1999), revenue sharing was at a lower level. The union fears too much revenue sharing will take money away from clubs that would spend it on players. Fehr has been cautious in his public response to Selig but has made clear that the union isn't keen on management's proposals. ``What we've said isn't a surprise,'' he said without going into detail. Rich Aurilia, Tony Clark, Damion Easley, Mark Loretta, Josh Paul and Tim Salmon attended Tuesday's bargaining session along with the union staff. Management's delegation was led by Paul Beeston, baseball's chief operating officer, and lawyers Bob DuPuy and Rob Manfred. DuPuy did not immediately return telephone calls seeking comment. The sides are to meet again Wednesday and Thursday in Scottsdale. Their previous labor contract, which expired Nov. 7, remains in force. Bargaining has been slowed by management's attempt to eliminate the Montreal Expos and Minnesota Twins, a plan blocked by an injunction baseball is attempting to overturn. The hearing on the union's grievance to block contraction resumes Feb. 5. Neither side has threatened a work stoppage, which would be baseball's ninth since 1972.