COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENTS

Year	Minimum Salary	Average Salary	% Change	Pension Contri-butions	Miscellaneous Provisions/ Key Developments
	Pre-CBA
1967	$7,000	$19,000
	CBA 1
1968	$10,000	Not avail.		$4,100,000	Maximum salary cut reduced from 25% to 20%. Commissioner to arbitrate player grievances.
1969	$10,000	$24,909		$5,400,000	New TV deal brings showdown over pension: players win increased contributions, higher benefits, reduction of eligibility from five years’ service to four, other concessions.
	CBA 2
1970	$12,000	$29,303	17.6	$5,450,000	Players to get termination pay if cut during season or in spring training. Owners recognize players’ right to negotiate through agents, accept impartial arbitrator for player grievances
1971	$12,750	$31,543	7.6	$5,450,000	Arbitrator upholds Alex Johnson’s grievance, ruling that players with severe emotional disturbances must be treated the same as those with physical ailments.
1972	$13,500	$34,092	8.1	$5,450,000	First in-season strike, over pension benefits, ends when owners agree to use $490,000 of surplus to fund most requested increases. Supreme Court upholds MLB’s antitrust exemption.
	CBA 3
1973	$15,000	$36,566	7.3	$6,150,000	Salary arbitration introduced for players with two full, or three partial, major league seasons. 5-year veterans can’t be farmed without their consent; 10-year veterans who have been on the same club for five years can’t be traded without their consent.
1974	$15,000	$40,839	11.7	$6,150,000	Arbitrator grants Catfish Hunter free agency after A’s owner Charles O. Finley fails to pay deferred compensation as required in Hunter’s contract.
1975	$16,000	$44,676	9.4	$6,450,000	Arbitrator grants free agency to Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally, ruling that MLB’s reserve clause gives clubs only a one-year option, not a perpetual right of renewal.
	CBA 4
1976	$19,000	$51,501	15.3	$8,300,000	Spring-training showdown over free agency ends when Commissioner Kuhn directs clubs to open training camps. Eventual deal provides for free agency after six years, with limits: a player can become a free agent only once every five years, and may negotiate with no more than 12 clubs in addition to his current employer. Clubs draft rights to negotiate with particular free agents. A team which signs a free agent must compensate the club losing him with its first- or second-round pick in the next amateur draft. Kuhn blocks Charles O. Finley’s attempt to sell his best players rather than losing them to free agency.
1977	$19,000	$76,066	47.7	$8,300,000
1978	$21,000	$99,876	31.3	$8,300,000
1979	$21,000	$113,558	13.7	$8,300,000
	CBA 5
1980	$30,000	$143,756	26.6	$15,500,000	May strike averted by deferring issue of compensation for free agents until 1981. Two-year service requirement for arbitration retained.
1981	$32,500	$185,651	29.1	$15,500,000	Deadlock over free-agent compensation leads to 50-day midseason strike. Compensation issue settled by creating a player pool from which teams losing top free agents can pick. Free agents are divided into “Type A” (top 20% at their position -- team gets a pick from the player pool plus a draft pick), “Type B” (top 21-30% -- two draft picks) and everyone else (one draft pick). Five teams can avoid supplying players to the pool by agreeing not to sign Type A free agents for three years.
1982	$33,500	$241,497	30.1	$15,500,000	Marvin Miller retires as head of MLBPA, succeeded by Ken Moffett
1983	$35,000	$289,194	19.8	$15,500,000	Moffett fired; Miller returns briefly, then Donald Fehr named executive director
1984	$40,000	$329,408	13.9	$25,000,000
	CBA 6
1985	$60,000	$371,571	12.8	$25,000,000	After two-day midseason strike, settlement raises arbitration threshold to three years effective 1987, increases pension benefits, eliminates re-entry draft and compensation for free agent signings
1986	$60,000	$412,520	11.0	$33,000,000	After season, clubs refuse to bid on one another’s free agents -- later held to be collusive behavior in violation of the CBA.
1987	$62,500	$412,474	0.0	$33,000,000	Second year of collusion
1988	$62,500	$438,729	6.4	$33,000,000	Third year of collusion
1989	$68,000	$512,804	16.9	$39,000,000
	CBA 7
1990	$100,000	$578,930	12.9	$55,000,000	Most senior 17% of players with between two and three years of seniority eligible for arbitration. Pension increases, especially for pre-1959 players. Owners settle collusion claims for $280 million, agree to treble damages for future collusion.
1991	$100,000	$891,188	53.9	$55,000,000
1992	$109,000	$1,084,408	21.7	$55,000,000	Owners exercise option to reopen labor agreement, but can’t formulate a proposal
1993	$109,000	$1,120,254	3.3	$55,000,000	Owners still can’t agree upon a proposal, so terms of the CBA continue after its expiration
1994	$109,000	$1,188,679	6.1	$55,000,000	As negotiations intensify, Labor Secretary Robert Reich proposes a compromise: the players promise not to strike if the owners agree not to unilaterally implement their proposed salary cap during the offseason. Owners refuse. August 12 strike wipes out rest of the regular season and all of postseason.
1995	$109,000	$1,071,029	(9.9)	$55,000,000	On eve of regular season, players end strike after a federal judge enjoins the owners from implementing their current proposal. Opening Day pushed back, season cut to 144 games.
	CBA 8
1996	$150,000	$1,176,967	9.9	$68,000,000	After season, owners ratify deal covering 1996-2000, with player option to extend it through 2001. For 1997-99, luxury tax of 35% (34% in 1999) on amount by which a club’s payroll exceeds the midpoint between the 5th and 6th highest-payroll clubs. Revenue-sharing plan phased in. Rule against filing for free agency twice in five years repealed.
1997	$150,000	$1,383.578	17.6	$68,000,000
1998	$170,000	$1,441,406	4.2	$68,000,000*
1999	$200,000			$68,000,000*
2000	$200,000‡			$68,000,000*

‡ Plus cost of living increase, if MLBPA does not exercise its option to extend CBA through 2001 season.