Federal Mediator to Be Hired to Resolve MLB Lockout, 1st Time Since 1994
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For baseball fans right now, there seem to be 3 certainties; Death, taxes, and a lengthening lockout. With spring training scheduled to resume later this month, the newest unsuccessful round of negotiations comes as a bit of a break to fans across the nation. However, there remain some positives to take out of the arrangement for the lockout in its latest round.
MLB has requested the assistance of a federal mediator to conduct and oversee the negotiations between the parties. While no sure shot means of achieving a result, this is surely a shot in the arm of a conversation. The parties will likely be helped along to a more productive conversation.
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The League requested a federal mediator early on Thursday. Mediation is when a neutral third party is brought in to help the conversation along. This third party doesn’t directly participate in the talks but rather seeks to facilitate the conversation when two parties at negotiation are at loggerheads.
As is the case at present, both the league and the Players Union seem hesitant to move from their initial positions and the situation can be helped along by the presence of a mediator.
MLB and their take
MLB seems to have undertaken the mediation with a positive intention to resolve the dispute as quickly as possible. In fact, according to one MLB official, the league sees this as the most productive path towards reaching an agreement.
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The focus seems to be on not losing playing time, which will come as a relief to fans. The league’s belief is that a neutral mediator will help expedite the negotiation process. And faster negotiations can only mean quicker resumption.
Major League Baseball today requested immediate assistance of a federal mediator to help resolve the sport’s lockout, sources told ESPN. Under their request, the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service would help assist with the proceedings.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 3, 2022
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Mediation in resolving sporting disputes
Federal mediators have been crucial to resolving several sports disputes in the nation over the years. It was this third-party help that was crucial in resolving several labor disputes across sports leagues, including the NFL, the NHL, and even the Major League Soccer. In fact, in 2010, MLS resolved its 2010 with the players’ union without a work stoppage, thanks to the help of federal mediators.
Additionally, mediation helped resolve several similar problems. These include the NHL’s lockout in 2012-13 and even a similar MLS lockout of officials in 2014. And while the Player’s Union is not contractually obligated to accept mediation, one can hope that they would be agreeable to this for a quicker resolution.
Several sources have claimed that mediations tend to end in agreement 70-80% of the time, so fans could get their hopes up.
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