Major League Soccer players strike? Players and league far apart so far

You can't really blame the players in the MLS Players Union, can you? They've seen Toronto FC come in to MLS in 2007 to sell out crowds. They've watched as "designated players" such as David Beckham in Los Angeles and Freddie Ljungberg in Seattle have waltzed over to America and not only taken roster spots, but millions of dollars in salary as well. Meanwhile some of them are earning less than you could as a fast food assistant manager. As if to rub it in, the media and fans are also given free access to the numbers. Here's a 2009 salary list for each MLS club as posted on USA today. Here's the Players Union version.

Sounders fans are following the talks in the GOALSeattle.com forums.

Reports in recent days (see below) suggest the player unrest is more deeply founded that merely getting raises, though. The union has issues with the very structure of MLS and the lack of free movement of players between clubs. Perhaps this time a splash of cash won't be enough to bring the sides together.

Will the MLS Players Union decide to interrupt the 2010 season in a World Cup year?

With the current bargaining agreement between the union and MLS set to expire on January 31st 2010, there have been meetings in recent days to see where both sides stand. Kristian Dyer of ESPN's Soccernet reported yesterday: MLS and players far apart on labor negotiations. "MLS has made tremendous strides in its first 14 seasons," said Bob Foose, executive director of the MLS Players Union. "We believe it's now time to take the training wheels off and give MLS clubs the freedom to truly compete against each other and other clubs outside of the league in a manner that is consistent with what occurs everywhere else in the world." A source close to the league called last week's negotiations "contentious" between the two sides.

Nigel Reed of CBC Sports writes today of Major League Soccer's winter of discontent. Traded players, whose contract is with the League not the club they represent, have no say in the matter. I still recall the shock expressed by Alecko Eskandarian in 2007 when, just days after scoring his first (and last) goal for Toronto FC, he was shipped out to Salt Lake after only 6 months with the expansion franchise.

The single entity nature of Major League Soccer suggests the practice is unlikely to end any time soon. But players are human beings too. As such it doesn't seem unreasonable to allow the lifeblood of the League to have an opinion on where his individual future lies.

MLS commissioner Don Garber is ready to resist any players' revolt. He's made it crystal clear he's not willing to compromise over key issues to avoid a strike and has branded the union "simply wrong" in its assertion the League isn’t playing by FIFA's rules.

Over at Soccer America, Ridge Mahoney writes that the S-word looms over union discussions. Let's hope the matter doesn't hit an impasse, which can happen, even though neither side can afford, literally, to shut each other out. And let's hope it doesn't take a extraordinary turn of events, as was the case a few years ago when Landon Donovan sat next to Sunil Gulati on a plane for several hours to broker an agreement for U.S. Soccer and its players regarding national-team and World Cup bonuses. MLS doesn't need Donovan and Gulati to figure this out. It needs sense, as in common. That is the operative S-word.

The financial successes of MLS clubs  in Toronto, Seattle and Los Angeles are offset by challenges in San Jose, Kansas City, Dallas and Columbus. I've got to ask, though, how much longer players like Jhon Kennedy Hurtado ($39,000) can dominate the league and still desire to stay here at such bargain basement  prices? How long will Sounders fans pack Qwest Field to see a club only as deep as 2.9 million dollars in TOTAL roster salary? How much longer will we see the best American players leave for other leagues around the world? How soon will we see, if ever, the ability for Major League Soccer clubs to use the advantages they've earned by running a successful business on the pitch, spending some of that money where it counts? How long until MLS breaks the cartel and allows actual 'free agency,' if ever? When will, if ever, MLS clubs own their players rather than the league?

"It is certainly our sincere hope that we can have an agreement in place by (January 31)," union executive director Bob Foose told Reuters recently.

"But in order to do that there are going to have to be significant changes made to the way the league functions and obviously we would have to come to agreement on economic pieces."

Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber in the same report: "We understand and accept the fact that they will be tough negotiations but we are very committed to putting together a deal that will be good for our players, for management so that we can continue to together grow the sport."