Escalating USL Player Protests & MLS Week 5
Last time we checked on the collective bargaining situation with the USL and its players, the two sides were locked in a tug-of-war that showed no signs of reaching a resolution. Despite the previous agreement ending all the way back on December 31 and the new USL Championship season having started on March XX, issues like standardized medical insurance for all players and the amount the league will pay players for their name and image rights remain intractable.
Things have gone a bit quiet, at least when it comes to the updates on talks we were getting from national soccer reporters like Jeff Carlisle, Paul Tenorio, Melanie Anzidei, Jeff Rueter, and Tom Hindle.
I have no doubt those writers on still on the story, in the sense that if something notable were happening, they would file said update. That lack of substantial stories from the big outlets who all dropped pieces on the state of negotiations back when the USL Championship season kicked off suggests to me that talks are stuck. For lack of a better way of saying it, there doesn't seem to be much to report.
That apparent reality makes the player protest part of the story all the more interesting to me. For each of the matches during the first weekend of the USL Championship season the players remained still at the opening whistle, refusing to play for a full minute. The protest action received a healthy amount attention as a show of solidarity by the players and it seemingly caught the league off guard from a broadcast perspective.
Let's call that a success from the players side in the battle of public opinion.
With no real progress in talks, the USL players repeated the opening minute protest in Week 2. Fans rallied in support and in a number of places across the country, changts of "STAND UP FOR STANDARDS" and "PAY THE PLAYERS" were heard on league broadcast. It's fair to call that another success for the players, though the media attention the Week 2 protest received didn't reach the same level as that of Week 1.
This is all to say that these protests quickly hit a level of diminishing returns if they don't escalate in real ways. After a round of US Open Cup games that featured USL players (from both Championship and USL League One teams) wearing t-shirts demanding higher standards, a la the Riverhounds and FC Tulsa players ahead of last year's USL Championship final, the USLPA attempted to rachet up the pressure for the round of games this past weekend.
Instead of just a minute of protest at the opening whistle, the players repeated the action at the start of the second half. Again, supporters responded with a show of support from the stands and again broadcasts ignored each action. An escalation, sure, but not one of kind. Whatever additional attention the players cause received was extremely limited in scope.
The half-step escalation by the players and the limited attention it received drives home a difficult point for everyone on the side of labor in these negotiations: The players' leverage is minimal and truly disruptive action may be a line too bright to cross.
Anything beyond what the players have already done as protest action risks souring their support and alienating fans. Short of a strike—an extremely serious step that kicks off a whole series of legal mechanisms and puts the players in jeopardy of missing paychecks—there's only so much they can do. Any suggestion that the players could interrupt open play to engage in protest action, meaning "pausing" play at some predetermined minute in the middle of a half, sounds nearly impossible to pull off logistically. Longer protests, say five minutes, might be slightly more effective but run into a problem of undermining the competition in ways that might not help the players.
It's a tricky thing.
I'm not going to pretend I have any answers. What I think we're all hoping for is a resolution to the talks that delivers the professional standards the players want while not put undue pressure on clubs financially. Remember, USL is working towards the launch of its first division and the introduction of promotion and relegation between three levels. None of that happens on the planned timeline if the USL Championship is interrupted by a strike or the league decides to take drastic action like bringing in scabs. These are huge stakes.
Let's drop a smattering of MLS Week 5 thoughts with the international break upon us.
- NYCFC ultimately E-6'd their way to a loss against Inter Miami, but Maxi Moralez's pass to Agustín Ojeda for New York's second goal got me off my feet. Maxi is 39 and though I full expect Pascal Jansen to squeeze everything he can out of the Argentine playmaker—because why wouldn't he—it's worth wondering if the ceiling on the season lines up with Maxi's ability to do it over the course of a full season.
- We probably don't give enough credit to the organization in Utah that somehow manages to make RSL a "surprise" year-in and year-out in the Western Conference. Following a wild 2-2 draw with Western darlings San Diego this weekend, Pablo Mastroeni's team is earning praise as a group leveled-up from the gritty, all-out-effort team that snuck into the playoffs the last few seasons.
- Word is that Antoine Griezmann is definitely landing in Orlando this summer to join an OCFC team that desperately needs a shot in the arm. I'm tentatively excited about this (as an unabashed Griezmann stan) but I definitely don't think the Frenchman fixes what ails Orlando City. Big name signings for their own sake and without work the fill out a competent supporting cast is the last refuge of poor MLS ownership. I hope the Lions aren't setting Griezmann up for a bad time humid Florida.
- Nashville SC is really, really good and I'm enjoying the BJ Callaghan glow up. Sam Surridge's blistering hot start is a double-edged sword for Nasvhille because while it's a boon to the club's position in the standings and hopes for a trophy this year, it's also going to draw attention from clubs abroad. Nashville already brushed aside interest in their English forward in the winter (and then signed him to a contract extension) and I expect the summer will only bring bigger offers and more temptation.
Stay tuned for this week's episode of The Best Soccer Show. We'll preview the Belgium game for the USMNT.
