[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 31, Number 4 (Monday, January 30, 1995)]
[Pages 124-125]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on the Baseball Strike

January 26, 1995

    America has been living without baseball for far too long. Now, as 
the strike drags on, it threatens the start of the 1995 season. It could 
well damage the economies of the spring training States. It is 
imperiling the livelihoods of tens of thousands of workers whose jobs 
depend on baseball. And it is trying the patience and depressing the 
spirits of millions of baseball fans--including me. It is time for this 
strike to end.
    It has always been my belief--and it continues to be--that the 
baseball strike, like any labor dispute, should be settled through good-
faith bargaining between the parties. It was with this principle in mind 
that I endorsed the Secretary of Labor's proposal to appoint the best 
mediator around--former Labor Secretary Bill Usery--to help the parties 
sort out their differences.
    Over the last 2 days, I have spoken with Secretary Reich and with 
former Secretary Usery about the status of the strike negotiations. We 
discussed all of the alternatives. I remain convinced that the best way 
to get baseball back for America is for the parties to reach their own 
settlement. But we cannot wait indefinitely.
    This morning, I asked Bill Usery to bring the owners and the players 
back to the table, and to step up the pace and intensity of his 
mediation efforts.
    I have asked him to report back to me by February 6 with the 
progress they have made. If the parties have not reached an agreement by 
then--or are not on track towards a speedy settlement--I have asked Mr. 
Usery, if he believes it appropriate, to put forth his own 
recommendations for a proposed settlement between the parties.

[[Page 125]]

    I hope it doesn't come to that. I urge the owners and the players to 
give their full support to this mediation effort, and to settle this 
unfortunate dispute themselves. It is time to put behind us the rancor 
and cynicism that are shadowing the American ideal of baseball. It is 
time to let all the excitement that the 1995 season can offer sweep away 
that tarnished image. It's time to ``play ball.''