Major League Baseball, Players’ Union Enter Lockout After Failing to Reach Labor Agreement
By ESPN // December 2, 2021
bargaining agreement expired after 11:59 p.m. ET Wednesday
ABOVE VIDEO: MLB reporter Jeff Passan breaks down the league’s first lockout since 1990.
(ESPN) – Major League Baseball locked out its players early Thursday morning, certifying the game’s first work stoppage in more than a quarter-century after months of talks yielded little progress toward a new labor contract.
The long-anticipated lockout, which the league told the players’ union it would initiate once the previous collective bargaining agreement expired after 11:59 p.m. ET Wednesday, ends the transaction frenzy that led up to its imposition and sends the industry into a dark period with scant light in sight.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred expressed disappointment in the lockout but said he believes it is “the best mechanism to protect the 2022 season.”
“Despite the league’s best efforts to make a deal with the Players Association, we were unable to extend our 26 year-long history of labor peace and come to an agreement with the MLBPA before the current CBA expired,” Manfred wrote in a prepared statement. “Therefore, we have been forced to commence a lockout of Major League players, effective at 12:01am ET on December 2.”
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