Baseball players union blasts owners for lockout

At midnight Dec. 2, immediately after the contract between Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association expired, team owners locked out all members of the MLBPA. The union issued the following statement on Twitter 20 minutes after the lockout was imposed. In two days the statement received almost 13,000 likes.

Major League Baseball has announced a lockout of Players, shutting down our industry.

Major League Baseball Players Association Executive Director Tony Clark explains issues dividing the union and the owners.

This shutdown is a dramatic measure, regardless of the timing. It is not required by law or for any other reason. It was the owners’ choice, plain and simple, specifically calculated to pressure Players into relinquishing rights and benefits and abandoning good, fair-bargaining proposals that will benefit not just Players, but the game and industry as a whole.

These tactics are not new. We have been here before, and Players have risen to the occasion time and again — guided by a solidarity that has been forged over generations. We will do so again here.

We remain determined to return to the field under terms of a negotiated collective bargaining agreement that is fair to all parties and provides fans with the best version of the game we all love.