One fundamental principle underlines the employee-employer relationship: The value of an employee’s labor is generally greater than the wage paid by the employer. This difference gives rise to a surplus that has to be divided between the worker and the employer.
Strikes
occur when the two sides are unable to agree about how this surplus is divided.
Most strikes arise as a result of miscalculation, such as when the union is
relatively confident that the employers can afford to pay a
high wage, but this confidence is in fact misplaced. This leads us to the
question: Are the MLS referees unreasonably confident in the amount of wages
they can capture?
PSRA’s
demands should come at little surprise given the league’s recent success. In
2011, average MLS attendance hit 17,872 to surpass both the NBA and NHL, and it
has since increased to 18,611 fans per game. More impressively, the average
franchise is now worth $103 million, up more than 175% over the last five
years. With five planned expansion teams and a new league TV deal on the way,
there’s no reason to believe that growth is slowing anytime soon.[2]
This
growth has created a larger surplus between referees’ wages and their value to
the MLS. Unsurprisingly referees have sought to reduce this gap. Besides the
growing surplus, another factor contributing to referees’ demands is the
increased work responsibilities that have been established by PRO. Time demands
on referees have increased because of, for instance, regular training camps
instituted by the new regime.
The
ultimate factor in continued negotiations between PRSA and PRO lays in who has
more leverage over the other. If PRSA’s demands lie within management’s
acceptable contract zone, PRSA is more likely to attain gains without a strike.
However, if PRSA’s demands exceed the contract zone set forth by management, a
strike may occur. These miscalculations often occur as a result of uncertainty
caused by changing economic conditions and newly formed negotiating
relationships. Both of these are present in this situation.
The
perceived leverage that PRO had over PRSA in the initial stages of negotiations
was neutralized once unfair labor practice charges were brought against PRO by
the union. The damage done by these accusations has thrown a wrench into the
negotiations, thus creating a larger gap that must be breached before the start
of the season. If an agreement cannot be reached by March 8, there are many
avenues that PRO can take to cover MLS games. None are ideal, but some may be
employed in order to begin the MLS season on time.
[1] http://www.washingtonpost.com/
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