Strike Date

The Orioles voted unanimously yesterday to give the executive committee of the Major League Players Association authorization to set a strike date and -- if necessary -- to call for a work stoppage later this season.Player representative Mike Mussina conducted the meeting before last night's game against the Oakland Athletics. Presumably, the other 27 major-league clubs have taken similar votes or will do so before the executive committee meets Monday in Pittsburgh.There had been speculation that Monday's meeting would produce a strike deadline, but union director Donald Fehr may ask the committee to leave that option open for the time being, since the negotiations on a new labor agreement still are in the preliminary stages.

The Major League Baseball Players Association has set an Aug. 30 strike date, putting pressure on the players and owners to reach a new labor agreement or risk the sport's ninth work stoppage since 1972. Bargainers have just two weeks to avert a strike that could wipe out the final month of the regular season and - in the worst case - mirror the 1994 dispute that vexed fans and caused the cancellation of the World Series. The decision to set the strike date was made yesterday in a conference call of union player representatives.

NEW YORK - Washing away all of the optimism that flowed from the union's decision Monday not to set a strike date, baseball's labor negotiators ran into a reef in their talks last night, almost ensuring that the union will set an Aug. 30 strike date tomorrow. As negotiators for the owners and the players prepared for a third bargaining session of the day, one of them suggested that it was impossible to predict whether they could get to an agreement before the union's executive board meets via conference call tomorrow.

NEW YORK - Washing away all of the optimism that flowed from the union's decision Monday not to set a strike date, baseball's labor negotiators ran into a reef in their talks last night, almost ensuring that the union will set an Aug. 30 strike date tomorrow. As negotiators for the owners and the players prepared for a third bargaining session of the day, one of them suggested that it was impossible to predict whether they could get to an agreement before the union's executive board meets via conference call tomorrow.

NEW YORK -- The Major League Baseball Players Association has decided to strike sooner rather than later, setting Aug. 12 as the deadline for a work stoppage that could wipe out the last 52 days of the season and baseball's newly expanded postseason tournament.Union director Donald Fehr made the announcement late yesterday afternoon at the Intercontinental Hotel, where union and management negotiators had concluded a contentious meeting Wednesday without making progress toward a new labor agreement.

ROSEMONT, Ill. - With baseball's labor negotiations looking more and more like 1994 revisited, players decided against setting a strike date yesterday, on All-Star Game Eve, but maintained their hard-line stance against ownership. The union's executive board held a five-hour meeting near Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, and the players came away saying they will now take the issues back to their teammates before deciding if and when to strike. In 1994, the union held a similar meeting in Pittsburgh the day before the All-Star Game.

MILWAUKEE - Maybe in a perfect world, baseball commissioner Bud Selig would have gotten to enjoy his hometown All-Star Game without addressing the divisive issues that face his sport. Not in this baseball world. Selig spent part of the afternoon before the 73rd All-Star Game fielding questions from near and far in a modern-day town hall meeting that allowed baseball fans from all over the world to log in on the Internet. Their concerns were predicable, as were many of Selig's answers.

Strike halves Saturn deliveriesA trucking strike has cut deliveries of Saturn automobiles in half, the General Motors Corp. subsidiary said yesterday.Only two tractor-trailer rigs loaded with Saturns have arrived at dealerships since 82 Teamsters members walked off the job Saturday at Transportation Unlimited Inc., a company that supplies truck drivers.Saturn produces about 1,100 cars a day, and dealers now have a 55-day supply, Saturn spokesman Bill Betts said.Air strike date may be earlierAmerican Airlines' flight attendants union said yesterday that they plan to meet next week to decide on possibly moving up its strike date.

Don't listen to talk of an NHL players' strike -- particularly any talk that includes a strike date -- Washington Capitals goalie Mike Liut says."We have not decided to strike, and we have not discussed a strike date," said Liut, Capitals player representative.Liut said reports that speculate about a strike after April 5, the last day of the regular season, might have emanated from the owners."They've been leaking information about the talks to the media or somebody," Liut said. "It's obvious they should all fine themselves $250,000 for breaking their own gag rule.

So, how do you plan for what is essentially a 14-game season?That's the dilemma that Orioles manager Johnny Oates is left with, following yesterday's announcement that the Major League Baseball Players Association has set a strike date of Aug. 12.Oates the optimist hopes the players and owners can reach agreement and stave off a strike. However, Oates the realist understands that the Orioles' game with the Boston Red Sox here on Aug. 11, may effectively end the regular season."I'm disappointed, but we knew it was coming," said Oates.

As Orioles pitcher Jason Johnson continues to move forward in his return from shoulder tendinitis, he also is pulled in other directions that take his mind off the field. Johnson confirmed again that he would make Friday's start in Detroit after being activated from the disabled list. He spent part of yesterday engaged in a conference call with the union hierarchy and baseball's other player representatives, with updates provided on labor negotiations and the issue of steroid testing. "I think the majority of the guys, they want something done as far as steroid testing is concerned," he said.

Baseball's troubled labor situation is nowhere near resolution, and the increasing friction between management and the Major League Baseball Players Association has put everyone - players, owners and fans - on high alert for another damaging work stoppage. So no one could have been particularly shocked at a report in yesterday's Los Angeles Times that the union had tentatively settled on Sept. 16 as a likely strike date if slow-moving collective bargaining negotiations fail to produce an agreement.

MILWAUKEE - Maybe in a perfect world, baseball commissioner Bud Selig would have gotten to enjoy his hometown All-Star Game without addressing the divisive issues that face his sport. Not in this baseball world. Selig spent part of the afternoon before the 73rd All-Star Game fielding questions from near and far in a modern-day town hall meeting that allowed baseball fans from all over the world to log in on the Internet. Their concerns were predicable, as were many of Selig's answers.

ROSEMONT, Ill. - With baseball's labor negotiations looking more and more like 1994 revisited, players decided against setting a strike date yesterday, on All-Star Game Eve, but maintained their hard-line stance against ownership. The union's executive board held a five-hour meeting near Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, and the players came away saying they will now take the issues back to their teammates before deciding if and when to strike. In 1994, the union held a similar meeting in Pittsburgh the day before the All-Star Game.

Maybe that's what will happen in Milwaukee during the next few days, but a gathering of baseball's player representatives in Chicago tomorrow could provide a little rain for Bud Selig's hometown parade. The Major League Baseball Players Association will convene an important executive council meeting the day before the midsummer classic, the expressed purpose of which is to give player reps an update on the current collective-bargaining negotiations with ownership. There also are rumblings of a darker agenda - speculation that union officials will discuss possible strike scenarios and may even set a strike date.

MILWAUKEE -- Orioles players and owner Peter Angelos agree on at least one thing: The owners should not have withheld the $7.8 million All-Star Game payment to the players' pension fund, a move that caused the players to discuss pushing up the strike date to yesterday, before they decided to keep it at Aug. 12.They disagree on the intent of the move.Orioles player representatives Mike Mussina and Jim Poole were on a conference call with union officials and player representatives from other clubs yesterday.

Baseball's troubled labor situation is nowhere near resolution, and the increasing friction between management and the Major League Baseball Players Association has put everyone - players, owners and fans - on high alert for another damaging work stoppage. So no one could have been particularly shocked at a report in yesterday's Los Angeles Times that the union had tentatively settled on Sept. 16 as a likely strike date if slow-moving collective bargaining negotiations fail to produce an agreement.

NEW YORK -- It didn't seem possible just a few days ago, but the warring parties in baseball's acrimonious labor dispute actually moved further apart this week.The situation has became so critical, in fact, that there is a possibility that the players will move up their strike date, perhaps walking off the field in the next few days.The point of contention: $7.8 million in revenue from the 1994 All-Star Game that the owners have decided to keep rather than make their customary August payment to the Major League Baseball Players Association pension and benefits fund.

The baseball labor negotiations sailed into uncharted waters yesterday when Don Fehr called the owners "provocative."What, is Jerry Reinsdorf going around talking tough in a Speedo bathing suit? Are the owners attempting to distract the players with a Gene Autry fold-out?George Steinbrenner in the role of un provocateur? Thanks, but no thanks.Of course, Fehr was referring not to that kind of provocation, but the other kind. You know, the get-real-mad kind.The players were peeved that the owners withheld a $7.8 million payment to the players' pension fund.

MILWAUKEE -- Orioles players and owner Peter Angelos agree on at least one thing: The owners should not have withheld the $7.8 million All-Star Game payment to the players' pension fund, a move that caused the players to discuss pushing up the strike date to yesterday, before they decided to keep it at Aug. 12.They disagree on the intent of the move.Orioles player representatives Mike Mussina and Jim Poole were on a conference call with union officials and player representatives from other clubs yesterday.