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Jeff Carlisle, US soccer reporter
Professional Soccer Referees Association (PSRA), the union that represents officials working in Major League Soccer (MLS). NWSLand the USLrejected the proposed new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) presented to him by the Federation’s Executive Board, and negotiated with the Professional Referees Organization (PRO), the referees’ employer.
About 98% of union members participated in the vote, while 95.8% voted against the ratification. Voting took place on Thursday and Friday, and in response, the PRO now says it will shut down officials starting at midnight ET Saturday and begin the season with replacement officials.
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The Major League Soccer regular season is scheduled to begin on Wednesday when Inter Miami meets Real Salt Lake.
“The meteoric growth of the MLS has significantly increased demands on officials both mentally and physically, and thus increased demands on our professional and personal time,” Peter Manikowski, president and lead negotiator of the PSRA, said in a press release.
“Not only are our members demanding fair compensation at a time when the league is recording record growth, they are also demanding the ability to take care of themselves on the road and at home to continue to operate at the highest level that this sport demands.
“Feedback from our members indicated that the failure to certify was driven by issues with the compensation and benefits that PRO was offering, as well as a lack of improvements in travel, scheduling, and other quality of life issues.”
“We have made significant progress during recent negotiations, agreeing fair pay increases and addressing many of the PSRA’s concerns regarding non-economic items,” Mark Geiger, PRO’s managing director, said in a statement.
“This represents an overall increase of approximately 25% from 2023 when comparing salaries, agents, game fees and benefits as well as the addition of business class travel for the MLS Cup Playoffs. The membership vote result is disappointing.”
A PRO spokesperson told ESPN that the organization offered the PSRA a no-strike/no-lockout agreement as a way to continue negotiations, but that was also rejected by the PSRA. Manikowski responded by saying that the no-strike/no-lockout offer was a “poison pill” for union membership, and was accompanied by, among other things, a demand that the PSRA not accept any raises for 2024.
PSRA members voted to authorize a potential strike on 22 January.
Geiger said the rejection of the no-strike/no-lockout motion which, combined with the PSRA’s general strike permit “created a significant risk going into the 2024 season. We are left with no choice but to impose a lockout and employ a qualified non-bargaining unit of officials so that the matches can be played as scheduled.”
As for where the PRO will draw its list of replacement officials, a source familiar with the PRO’s thinking indicated to ESPN that a total of 66 officials have been identified. Twenty-six of them can be appointed as a referee or assistant referee (AR), six as a referee, fourth official or fourth official, 29 as an assistant referee and five as a fourth referee or VAR assistant.
Among the potential referees, 11 have FIFA or professional experience in one of the top three divisions in other countries – including Brazil, Turkey, Spain, Italy, Jamaica, Mexico and Poland. The source added that Geiger will take over VAR duties, having worked with FIFA as a technical and VAR coach in several tournaments including the 2022 World Cup.
The previous CBA between the PSRA and the PRO — which uses referees in North America — expired on January 15, but the PSRA and PRO have agreed to multiple extensions to continue operating under the terms of the old CBA. This allowed referees to attend training camps and some pre-season matches, as well as continue to receive benefits while negotiations continued.
The PSRA announced on February 14 that it had reached a preliminary agreement with PRO, raising hopes that the deal would be ratified soon. But in an open letter to the refereeing community on the same day, the league said: “We will not speculate on whether or not MLS officials will certify it, but rest assured we plan ahead for all possible outcomes.”
According to a PRO spokesperson, the offer on offer has an average compensation increase of about 25%. This includes a 10-33% increase for referees, a 75-104% increase for assistant referees, and a 15-100% increase for video assistant referees. The agreement also called for an annual increase in compensation of 3%, with the exception of 2027, which will witness a 7% increase. Manikowski would only confirm that the offer contains compensation increases for each category of referee.
In another sign that the two sides remain far apart, the PSRA filed a second unfair labor practice charge against the PRO with the National Labor Relations Board. The filing, a copy of which was obtained by ESPN, alleges that the PRO’s general manager sent a letter to union members on February 9 stating that if the tentative agreement was not approved, officials would shut down, withdraw its current proposal and agree only to significantly less good terms.
The PSRA complaint asserts that this constitutes “regressive bargaining and abuse.” [the PRO’s] The obligation to negotiate in good faith constitutes retaliation against PSRA members for engaging in protected activity.”
The first unfair labor practices filing, dated January 5, confirmed that the PRO invited PSRA members individually, without a PSRA representative present, to discuss bargaining proposals. This is called “direct dealing” in labor law parlance, and is a violation of the National Labor Relations Act.
The last time the PRO shut down referees over CBA talks was in 2014, which lasted two weeks before an agreement was reached on March 19 of that year.
“This game is evolving quickly and play is happening quickly,” Manikowski said. “We believe that replacement administrators generally do not have the current experience and level of fitness required to do our job.
“The sport and everyone involved – players, coaches and fans – deserve referees who are the best in North America in knowledge of the MLS game and its current rules and applications.”
