Nlrb Charges Owners Federal Action May Swap Strike For Lockout In Baseball Dispute

Baseball owners were hit with an unfair labor practice complaint Tuesday that may lead to both an end of the seven-month strike and the start of a management lockout.

The National Labor Relations Board accused owners of illegally eliminating salary arbitration and the anti-collusion provisions of the expired collective bargaining agreement.

Fred Feinstein, the agency’s general counsel, said within two weeks he will decide whether to ask the agency’s five-member board for permission to seek a preliminary injunction in federal court to restore those rules. If a judge issues an injunction, players say they would end the strike, the longest work stoppage in the history of U.S. professional sports.

“Obviously, we’re pleased with the result,” union head Donald Fehr said. “Obviously, it’s the right thing to do. Obviously, we’d like to be back at the table and bargain this out.”

The NLRB will issue the formal complaint today.

Feinstein is expected to seek an injunction, and two sources speaking on the condition they not be identified said he intends to ask the NLRB board on Thursday or Friday. It would take the board a week or two to give permission, and probably another week for a judge to hold a hearing and issue a decision, leaving little chance for a solution before the scheduled start of the season on April 2. Owners still intend to start the season with replacement players.

“This is another manifestation of the fact the only rational and practical way to end this dispute is at the table,” said acting commissioner Bud Selig, who claimed victory for the owners because the NLRB chose not to pursue two other accusations.

John Harrington, the chairman of management’s negotiating committee, has said in the past that owners would lock out players if the union ends the strike before the sides reach an agreement.

Players and owners had been scheduled to resume talks Tuesday at Lake Buena Vista, Fla., but owners called off the session Monday after Feinstein summoned lawyers from both sides to Washington.

Fehr said the union was ready to resume talks immediately. Management lawyer Chuck O’Connor wasn’t sure when his side will be ready but said he hoped it would be before this weekend.

The complaint was the second filed by the NLRB, which Dec. 14 accused owners of illegally failing to make a $7.8 million payment to the union’s benefits plan last Aug. 1. The agency was prepared to issue another complaint against owners last month, accusing them of illegally imposing their salary cap on Dec. 23.

Owners avoided that by agreeing Feb. 3 to rescind the cap. But two days later, O’Connor said teams were eliminating salary arbitration, the anticollusion provisions and individual bargaining between teams and players. The labor law says many provisions of expired contracts can’t be changed until the sides reach a legal impasse.