Collective bargaining in sport: The MLS referees lockout

Major League Soccer (MLS) kicked off this season with stand-in referees when Inter Miami and Lionel Messi hosted Real Salt Lake on 21 February 2024.

The Professional Soccer Referees Association (PSRA) and the Professional Referee Organization (PRO) failed to reach a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) before the previous one expired.

The PSRA is the trade union that represents professional referees across MLS, the USL leagues, and the NWSL. And PRO, the employer of these officials, is the body, partly funded by MLS, which manages professional officiating in the US and Canada.

Their inability to reach agreement on a new CBA governing the officials’ compensation, benefits and working conditions culminated in PRO exercising its economic power and announcing a lockout on 17 February.

This means PSRA members are unable to operate in their roles as officials in matches, until the deadlock between the parties is broken.

This is the second time in a decade that PRO has locked out PSRA officials during CBA negotiations.

The negotiations have become contentious and there is evidently strong feeling between the parties.

The previous CBA was in place since early 2019, and it is fair to say the landscape has changed appreciably since then.

MLS is experiencing significant commercial growth. Its proverbial stocks are riding the wave of the positive sentiment and promise brought on by the approaching 2026 FIFA men’s world cup which the US will co-host (as it will, potentially, the 2027 women’s tournament). And Messi’s arrival in the league is having an immense impact on revenues.

The union is using this, and the role of the officials in the league’s success and popularity, to motivate its proposals. PRO says its proposals reflect a fair deal in the circumstances.

We are used to reading about collective negotiations between players and the clubs and leagues that employ them. But a collective dispute involving referees is much less common.

Recently, there has been increased professionalisation of officiating in various sports and a closer focus on the pay that match officials receive.

This negotiation may set a tone for similar negotiations around the world, in football and in other sports.

What are they negotiating about, and how did it reach this point?

It is a dispute about wages and match fees, as well as working conditions and benefits.

The PSRA is negotiating for an increased economic package and for what it refers to as “quality of life improvements”, including better travel accommodations.

The PSRA president and lead negotiator, Peter Manikowski referred to the increased demands that the league’s growth has placed on officials, saying they are only asking for “fair compensation”.

MLS, in justifying its position, stated the rejected deal “would have made PRO members among the highest-paid soccer officials in the world”.

The parties were far apart in their proposals in December and January, with the Athletic reporting that PRO ultimately proposed an overall wage increase of four to five percent and the PSRA, one of up to ninety percent.

They agreed to extend the previous agreement from the expiry date of 15 January until 31 January. This meant officials could report for fitness testing and preseason camps while talks continued.

PSRA members then voted unanimously in favour of a potential strike.

At this stage, the PSRA also filed the first of its two ‘unfair labour practice’ charges against PRO with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), alleging that PRO engaged in “direct dealing”, i.e., bypassing union leadership and communicating directly with union members.

Despite these challenges, in early February the leadership of the two groups reached what has been described as a ‘tentative agreement’. According to PRO, this represented a 25 percent overall increase in terms of pay and benefits.

But the PSRA negotiators took the proposed deal back to its members, 95.8 percent of whom voted against it.

PRO expressed surprise at the negative vote. The PSRA said in response that it had made it clear to PRO that the offer would not be approved by its members, saying it put it to a vote to drive home how inadequate the offer was.

The union also rejected a proposed mutual ‘no-strike-no-lockout’ commitment. It said this would have meant frozen wages and unaddressed workload- and travel-related concerns pending any agreement, while the officials continued to work.

MLS commissioner Don Garber, who is in probably the most powerful position in US soccer, called the rejection of the tentative agreement "a very disappointing process". He said, "I can't remember in my nearly forty years of sports ever having a bargaining unit reach agreement and then not having the members support it".

PRO filed its own ‘unfair labour practice’ charge with the NLRB, accusing union negotiators and rank and file of unlawful threats and coercion of potential replacement workers.

This is the background to the lockout which PRO implemented in mid-February, possibly seeking to do so before the referees could go on strike.

As a contrasting point of interest, in South Africa, employers can only hire temporary replacement labour in the case of a defensive lockout, i.e., in response to a strike.

So, where do things go from here?

CBA negotiations are scheduled to resume on 28 February, with a federal mediator present, while union members and their supporters continue to picket.

The fact that an offer was taken to the union members for a vote possibly signifies the parties are closer to an agreement than the history of this dispute might suggest. And the commitment each of the parties has made publicly to continuing to negotiate provides hope that it will be resolved without a protracted work stoppage.

It seems a lot is at stake for MLS and PRO, particularly considering the upward trend in the sport.

The replacement officials have varying levels of experience and qualifications and include retired officials and referees from youth and college level. There is a real risk of embarrassment and dented public image if they are unable to handle the scrutiny and pressure.

In 2012, the NFL locked its referees out during CBA negotiations. It culminated in multiple controversial calls being made by replacement referees in an infamous game between the Seahawks and Packers. An agreement was reached two days later, after a three-month lockout.

The MLS Players Association (MLSPA) echoed the sentiments of the PSRA on the high stakes for the season, referring to the impact on the quality and results of matches, and on the risk to player health and safety.

When the last such work stoppage happened in MLS, with the lockout before the 2014 season, replacements – often (disparagingly) referred to as ‘scab’ labourers – officiated the first sixteen league games before the parties concluded their first CBA, with the assistance of federal mediators, after a two- or three-week lockout.

While there were no on-field crises during that period, indications are there was a notable departure from the normal standard of officiating, as was noted by the Athletic. The league has since grown by ten teams and VAR has been introduced.

That season ended with a game in which the referee was the current PRO general manager, Mark Geiger, and one of the assistants, none other than Manikowski, who is leading negotiations for the PSRA members.

One would hope this commonality between the negotiators will help them in reaching a meeting of the minds sooner rather than later.

In 2014, the atmosphere was also difficult, as it was in the 2019 negotiations, when the PSRA members authorised a strike, too.

Collective bargaining repeatedly shows us that while public affronts undermine the effectiveness of the bargaining process and positional (as opposed to interest-based) approaches to negotiation are unconstructive, labour and business are often able to put differences aside and focus on finding a resolution where there is a mutual interest in the prosperity of the ‘business’ in question.

There appears to be organised solidarity and resolve on the part of the union.

The adversity that comes with unpaid salaries in a protracted work stoppage is inevitably testing. However, sources have said the PSRA has a work stoppage fund, which one of them characterised as “sizeable enough for an extended stoppage”.

This is a factor which will influence the resilience of the employees if the employer is not willing to make the concessions necessary for what the referees view as an acceptable agreement.

What is the importance of these negotiations?

MLS is an increasingly global brand, whose sporting product commands ever more eyeballs.

The union and the employer will ultimately be hoping that sooner rather than later the referees are back to work, and that it returns to business as usual for all the league’s stakeholders.

One hopes that an agreement is reached that both parties view as a reasonable deal, even if it lies at the end of a relatively long road. This will maximise the chance of a sustainable labour peace.

On a broad-based level, global sport has seen a marked increase in the professionalisation of officiating in recent years, coupled with an acknowledgment of the need for referees and the like to be remunerated at a level that befits their importance to the games they preside over.

Recently, in the cash-rich English Premier League no less, we have seen controversy surrounding referees taking well-paid external gigs to supplement their income.

This negotiation and its outcome may shape the landscape of the pay of match officials and the terms and conditions that govern their employment, as well as influence the level of organisation and unionisation of referees.

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Sports labour lawMiles ChennellsFebruary 28, 2024