Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 9, 1995 TAG: 9502090091
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KNIGHT-RIDDER/TRIBUNE
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Rejecting President Clinton's call for Congress to ``step up to the plate'' and save the 1995 big-league season, the leaders said they would not require the feuding owners and players to submit to binding arbitration.
The unwillingness of Congress to intercede left the outlook bleaker than ever for baseball-starved fans.
The Clinton administration sent Congress a measure that would authorize the president to appoint a panel of three neutral arbitors with the power to dictate a settlement to the baseball strike.
``If we want a 1995 baseball season, this may be the last resort,'' said Labor Secretary Robert Reich. But prospects for a vote in either the House or Senate appeared remote.
House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia said it would be ``a very bad idea'' for Congress to order binding arbitration.
Worried about the precedent that congressional intervention might set, Gingrich asked: ``If you start talking about settling industry by industry, how many industries deserve our interference?''
Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole of Kansas and other Republicans said much the same thing.
Many Democrats disagreed. Rep. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., labeled Gingrich and Dole ``the Sultans of Not,'' a play on slugger Babe Ruth's fame as ``the Sultan of Swat.'' ``The fate of baseball is in the hands of Newt and Bob,'' jabbed Schumer, a Yankees and Mets fan, ``but their response is to sit on the bench.''
Although Clinton has appealed to baseball fans to urge Congress to act, public support for Clinton's position has been minimal so far, members of Congress reported.
Clinton's request for binding arbitration followed a five-hour meeting at the White House late Tuesday with players, owners, special mediator Bill Usery and administration officials. Clinton had hoped the two sides would agree to binding arbitration, but the owners refused.
No talks between players and owners are scheduled.
While the union sought binding arbitration, it was the union that rejected Usery's proposal for a 50 percent luxury tax on the portion of payrolls above $40 million, about $700,000 below the 1994 average. Salary arbitration would be eliminated by 1997, and the salaries of players with three to four years would drop drastically.
by CNB