Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, August 2, 1994 TAG: 9408020101
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Medium
Atlanta Braves owner Ted Turner said Monday the government should become involved in the salary-cap dispute, which is threatening baseball's eighth work stoppage in 22 years. The sides said they will meet next on Wednesday. The union has set an Aug.12 deadline for a walkout.
``If a strike occurs, sometime over the winter or next spring, Clinton will have to step in and there will have to be government arbitration,'' Turner said in St. Petersburg, Russia, where he is attending the Goodwill Games. ``Why not do it now, if you're going to do it then?
``As an owner, I might get slapped on the knuckles by even suggesting that because we hate arbitration and the players like it. That particular arbitration, salary arbitration, and arbitration of the basic dispute, is a different matter. I don't see either side giving in once it happens.''
Steve Rosenthal, an associate deputy secretary of labor, said Reich had met with union head Donald Fehr and management negotiator Richard Ravitch last week in New York.
``I hate to say the ball is in their court, because it's the wrong metaphor, but the ball is in their court,'' Rosenthal said in Washington. ``It's a bad situation now. We're just trying to make sure we have a line of communication open to both sides so we know where they are, and they know we're here if they get to a point where ... we might be able to help.''
Eugene Orza, the associate general counsel of the Major League Baseball Players Association, said the union was willing to talk with the Labor Department but not let any outside party impose a settlement.
``We're not interested in submitting to binding arbitration the issue of a salary cap,'' he said. ``... We don't exclude from the process any well-intentioned people who wish to become involved.''
Orza said he wasn't sure how to interpret Sunday's remarks by Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, who said he would be willing to have an agreement without a salary cap. Orza suggested that Reinsdorf communicate directly with the union or convey his views through Ravitch.
Meanwhile, a coalition on fan groups called for a fans' strike Aug.11, the last day of games before the strike deadline.
``Maybe the owners and players will know that there is some fan organization out there - I don't mean just our organization, but fans in general - and will listen,'' Frank Sullivan of Fans First in Cleveland.
He urged fans to to chant ``No strike, no strike,'' during the third inning of games this week and next.
``The fans are the only people with any idealism left in baseball,'' he said. ``Perhaps these millionaires on both sides of the issue can resolve their problems a different way.''
Turner who hasn't been involved in the day-to-day operations of the Braves in recent years, also urged a settlement.
``I'm going to be devastated if there's a baseball strike,'' he said. ``It looks like there's going to be one. And I really think if there's going to be one, it'll be a long one. We're going to lose the World Series this year.''
by CNB