MLB asks federal mediator to help in CBA discussions as lockout continues

By Connor Grott

Feb. 3 (UPI) -- With spring training nearing and lockout negotiations at a standstill, Major League Baseball has requested the assistance of a federal mediator to help resolve the labor issues between the league and the players' union.

League sources told ESPN, MLB Media and the Washington Post on Thursday that MLB officials reached out to the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, a governmental agency that attempts to help settle labor disputes. Mediation is voluntary, meaning the MLB Players Association would need to agree to the involvement of a third party.

The request for a federal mediator comes with less than two weeks until pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report to spring training. The request also comes two days after the last bargaining session between MLB and its union, which reports described as heated and underwhelming.

MLB locked out its players on Dec. 2 after the league failed to reach an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement with the players' union. Since then, the sides have met four times to discuss a path toward a resolution, including Tuesday's session between MLB and the MLBPA.

None of those sessions have provided significant traction toward a new collective bargaining agreement, with the sides remaining far apart on a variety of core economic issues ranging from the competitive balance tax threshold to the format of the draft.

During Tuesday's session, the talks centered on service time manipulation of players. Instead of offering a counterproposal to the union Thursday, the league suggested the involvement of a mediator.

The use of mediators has been commonplace through the history of sports labor relations. Mediation was used during MLBPA strikes in 1981 and 1994, the latter of which didn't result in a resolution.

In recent years, mediation efforts have provided successful outcomes in other sports. The NHL resolved its 2013 lockout with the help of FMCS mediator Scot Beckenbaugh, who also successfully mediated the Major League Soccer strike in 2015 and multiple labor disputes between leagues and referees' unions.