MLB, players' union hold first meeting in new labor war. Lockout coming?
MLB and the MLBPA began their negotiations with a lockout looming at the end of the season.
Major League Baseball and the MLB Players' Association held their first official talks on a new collective bargaining agreement on Tuesday, May 12 in New York with a work stoppage looming this winter, according to a person familiar with the talks. The person spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because the sides had not announced the meeting. The current CBA expires on Dec.
1 and the upcoming labor battle could be even more contentious than the 2021-22 lockout that lasted 99 days, pushing back the start of the 2022 season. The meeting Tuesday laid out the opening presentations of each side's positions. Owners are expected to lobby for a salary cap in the new CBA, an idea that's long been dead-on-arrival for the players union.
Discontent has been growing among management as the Los Angeles Dodgers (who have won back-to-back World Series titles) and New York Mets (who have not) spend huge sums of money on player acquisitions, with smaller-market owners claiming their organizations are unable to compete. MLBPA boss Tony Clark stepped down in February amid a scandal and was replaced on an interim basis by Bruce Meyer, who has served as the union's lead negotiator. The 2021-22 lockout was baseball's first work stoppage since the 1994-95 strike that resulted in the cancelation of the 1994 World Series.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: MLB lockout 2026? League and MLBPA hold first CBA meeting