Labor Agreement

Labor agreement fosters a flexible and strong work force I'd like to explain to Kenneth Timmerman that "closed union shops" were eliminated by the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act ("How Maryland builds bridges with Virginia," Opinion Commentary, Dec. 13). The "right to work [for less]" was initiated by the same law. Virginia wasted no time jumping on the bandwagon in January 1947, with a law that allows someone to benefit from a union contract without having to pay the union dues used to service the contract.

Major-league baseball players earn an average salary of about $2.4 million for a six-month season, but they are talking about going on strike. The Boston Red Sox franchise recently sold for nearly $700 million, but baseball management insists that the game is awash in red ink and headed for an economic meltdown that can only be averted with a dramatic change in the distribution of industry revenues and a new mechanism for controlling the growth of...

Baseball owners are nothing if not confusing, a muddle of contradictions and bizarre decisions that inevitably makes them look silly.On one hand, Florida Marlins owner Wayne Huizenga is a hawk, demanding a labor deal that will drag down player salaries. On the other hand, he reportedly is prepared to make a prohibitive offer to free-agent outfielder Albert Belle -- $10 million per year, or a whopping 15 percent more than Cleveland intends to offer -- an agreement that is bound to drive salaries higher.

From Berwanger to Emtman.That could wind up being an appropriate title for the history of the NFL's collegiate draft.Jay Berwanger, the first Heisman Trophy winner, is known to trivia experts as the first player selected in the NFL's first draft in 1936. He was so overwhelmed with the honor that he passed up pro football for a business career. There wasn't much prestige or pay in playing in the NFL in those days.Steve Emtman, the University of Washington defensive tackle, is likely to be the first player selected today by the Indianapolis Colts in the NFL's 57th draft.

THE ESCALATING tension between Maryland and Virginia over the proposed $2.1 billion Woodrow Wilson Bridge project may have as much to do with ideology as it does with dollars and cents. Gov. Parris N. Glendening has said that this, the largest public works project in the history of either state, should be built exclusively with union labor under a type of deal known as a Project Labor Agreement (PLA). Virginia Gov. James S. Gilmore III, however, rejects the idea of a PLA; as chief executive of a right-to-work state, he is philosophically opposed to compulsory unionism.

If you study the history of American business, one thing you quickly learn is that billionaires don't typically amass their wealth and power by innovation alone. They often do it by imposing their will and flexing their financial might. Negotiating deals worth billions of dollars is not for the timid, and it also doesn't require that both sides play nice. That's why it wasn't a surprise to see the NFL owners attempt a savvy bit of public relations Thursday night when they tried to pressure the NFL Players Association into signing a new 10-year labor agreement.

Peter G. Angelos yesterday reached a labor agreement with the leadership of the Sparrows Point shipyard workers union, moving the Baltimore Orioles' chief executive a step closer to buying the yard from Bethlehem Steel Corp.Angelos and Murphy Thornton, president of the Industrial Union of Marine and Shipbuilding Workers Local S-33, said they expected the agreement to be easily ratified Tuesday in a vote by approximately 900 workers.Neither man would disclose details, but Thornton said the agreement involves changes in work rules that should not be objectionable to workers.

The heart of baseball is beating strongly again. Atlanta's John Smoltz could win 25 games. Cecil Fielder probably is going to be playing in October, in pinstripes. Eddie Murray needs five more homers for 500.Four teams are contending for the NL Central title. The San Diego Padres are born again. Les Expos are exceeding expectations in spite of their small budget, again. Sammy Sosa is mashing homers at a Ruthian rate. Attendance is up, Fox is energizing baseball broadcasting.And a labor agreement seems to be on the horizon.

If embattled Atlanta Braves relief pitcher John Rocker eventually serves the 28-day suspension recently imposed by baseball commissioner Bud Selig, he won't be the only one who pays a heavy price for his mindless and mean-spirited diatribe against New Yorkers. His Braves teammates, finally facing some real competition in the National League East, could pay dearly for the loss of one of the game's premier relievers, even if it's only for the month of April. That takes us from the moronic to the ironic, since the likely beneficiaries of Rocker's costly suspension would be the same New Yorkers who spent October goading him into his eventual undoing.

Orioles owner Peter Angelos spent a lot of time on Amtrak's Acela Express the past few weeks, commuting between Baltimore and New York to play a major role in the negotiation of baseball's new labor agreement. He returned last week confident that the sport finally is on the right track, though he admits that the contract ratified by baseball owners on Thursday is not going to solve baseball's financial problems all by itself. "I was pleased that the two sides were able to fashion an agreement and able to avoid a strike that would have been disastrous to both sides," Angelos said.