MLS players union

They already did raise it in the last negotiation.

 

Does anyone have a list of salary cap raises over the years?

 

Which players making $50,000 or less have families? I define "family" as a wife AND at least one child that is living with the player in the United States or Canada. I challenge you to name three.

 

Even if the union is strong enough, striking long enough to cancel games would kill the league. Dead. Right then and there. The union understands this and the players understand this.

 

Even if you can name three, often times the player's wife earns more than enough to cover family expenses.

 

Ever is a long time.

The union agreed to, and signed, a CBA that doesn't expire till after the 09 season so it won't happen before then.

In theory, they could strike if they don't like the terms they're getting for the new CBA. But as others have noted, the deman for the MLS product isn't so great that the public would pressure the owners to get a deal done. In short, the players have no leverage.

The closest thing to leverage they do have is that the owners who have shelled out their own money to build an SSS have a mortgage that needs the revenue the MLS games create. But that's likely not enough to pressure the owners to give more than they feel they must.

Still, I suspect you'll see some signifigant changes in the next CBA. I suspect the minimum salary for the players on the full roster will go up from the 30K it is now, and I will be stunned if the union doesn't dig in long and hard on the developmental salary. I imagine that will go up to something that doesn't require living on food stamps.

As MLS teams start to create more revenue, the players are gonna want more of it. But, I also think as there are more owners in MLS that there won't be as much resistance to spending a little money on players as the new owners don't strike me as the type to do everything on the cheap.

Hence, there will be no need for strike.

Now, if in a 10 years or so MLS is making a tidy profit and the salaries are still dramatically out of whack with the world market, you could see some sort of work-stoppage, but that is a LONG way off and a LOT can happen between now and then to impact whether it is needed or can be successfully pulled off.

 

It's stupid to raise salaries when you're not making a profit.

 

For the ones with families MLS arranges an off-season job at Circle K, which entitles them to free slurpies for the kids, among other things, so the salary is kind of misleading if you leave out the perks.

 

They are strong enough to raise the minimum salary. Read the CBA. It goes up every year.

 

www.bigsoccer.com

 

Indeed.

If a list of salaries of team and MLS HQ staffers and interns was published, I doubt folks would be equally up in arms despite how shockingly little a lot of the folks who make the league possible work for. And they work far more hours under worse conditions than the players do.