Labor Deal In Place; Owners Need To Ratify

Baseball finally has a labor deal, at least in principle. Now it’s up to the owners to decide if they’re going to ratify it.

Players union head Donald Fehr said Saturday that he and management negotiator Randy Levine completed the details of a new collective bargaining agreement Thursday in Atlanta.

The five-year deal, which covers 1996 and runs through the 2000 season, would allow for interleague play in 1997. Players would have the option to extend the deal through the 2001 season.

If ratified, it would replace the collective bargaining agreement that expired in December 1993 and put an end, at least for the next few years, to the labor disharmony that caused a 232-day strike in 1994 and 1995.

Players have already given their executive board authority to ratify the agreement, but it’s unclear if the required 21 of 28 owners will vote for approval.