WASHINGTON -- Baseball's bitter labor dispute soon may be in the hands of the Clinton administration.
Negotiations have slowed to a crawl, and special mediator William J. Usery announced yesterday that he will recommend a settlement to President Clinton late today if no last-minute deal can be reached.
"We can't continue to move in inches when we need to move in yards," said Usery, who met with Clinton and Labor Secretary Robert Reich at the White House last night. "It's time-consuming, and we need to speed up this process."
The announcement came early in the final day before the deadline that Clinton set 11 days ago. There was talk of a late-night push for a compromise, but tempers flared and negotiations appeared to break down when the players lifted their seven-week ban on signings and the owners countered with one of their own.
Nevertheless, the administration continues to push for voluntary settlement. Reich even returned to the Mayflower Hotel to convey Clinton's sense of urgency to both negotiating teams.
"The next 24 hours are going to be crucial," Reich said. "The president would like to get on with this as soon as possible to make sure there is a '95 season and spring training."
The Major League Baseball Players Association submitted a new proposal to the owners on Saturday night, but it was only subtly different from the union's previous proposal. The owners were so disappointed in the lack of movement they told Usery yesterday they would not even respond. That left the mediator little alternative but to move forward on the administration's plan to recommend a settlement, then try to impose it on both parties if necessary.
"I have told both parties that I will put together a proposal that I will present to the president tomorrow," Usery said. "I then will present it to the parties. Hopefully, it will be acceptable to the parties, and we can get something done. Everybody would prefer a voluntary settlement."
Usery asked both sides to submit their "very best positions" yesterday to help him formulate a compromise. He indicated he will give the sides a chance to negotiate over the recommended terms, but eventually will turn the dispute over to the administration.
What happens then? That's the $1 billion question. Clinton has ++ given every indication that he will seek special legislation to impose the terms of the Usery compromise if there is not major progress soon. But no one knows if Congress will go along with the Clinton plan.
"There is a public stake here in reaching a fair and equitable settlement to this dispute," Reich said.
If there is a legislated settlement, it likely would leave each side feeling like a loser. The owners have paid a heavy price to enact a new economic system. The final seven weeks of the 1994 season were lost along with the playoffs and World Series. The players willingly sacrificed hundreds of millions of dollars in salary to resist any program that would restrict salary growth.
Negotiators for both sides remained at the Mayflower Hotel, meeting separately and waiting for word from Usery. Joint talks could resume after the mediator presents his recommendation.
"The players are very cognizant of the deadline," union director Donald Fehr said. "We're still hopeful that it will spur the owners toward more meaningful negotiations. I guess we'll know in a day or two."
There was guarded optimism that a settlement would be reached here, especially after owners made a proposal that included minor concessions on noneconomic issues. The momentum seemed to increase Friday when the owners bowed to pressure from the National Labor Relations Board and lifted the implemented salary cap, but the unfavorable ownership reaction to the union proposal on Saturday brought negotiations to a halt.
The most recent ownership proposal calls for a two-tiered tax system that places severe penalties on that portion of club payrolls that exceed threshold levels of $35 million (75 percent) and $42 million (100 percent), but the owners reportedly gave Usery an improved version of that last night. The union proposal altered the percentage of revenue-sharing funds raised through
a payroll tax, but only within the existing financial framework of management's Fort Lauderdale revenue-sharing program.
Usery has to find a way to split the difference, which the players estimate could be as much as $1 billion if they agree to management's request for a seven-year deal.
"It is absolutely essential that we get baseball started as soon as possible," Usery said. "Both sides want an agreement, but both sides are very far apart."