Soca Warriors Online Discussion Forum
Sports => Football => Topic started by: Zeppo on March 21, 2010, 04:25:51 AM
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MLS avoids a strike, agrees to deal with players union
Major League Soccer and its players' union reached a deal on a five-year collective bargaining agreement Saturday, averting a strike less than a week before the league was scheduled to begin its 15th season.
The sides emerged from two days of round-the-clock negotiations at the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service in Washington to announce a pact that boosts salaries, provides guaranteed contracts to a majority of players and allows for greater freedom to move between clubs in the league without the implementation of traditional free agency.
Although the agreement must still be ratified by MLS's board of governors and the players, it ends the threat of a work stoppage that might have been severely damaging. Despite numerous positive developments, including expansion to 18 teams by next year and the opening of two new stadiums this season, MLS has only two profitable clubs and continues to operate in the shadows of other U.S. pro sports leagues.
(continue) (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/20/AR2010032002868.html)