Donald Fehr
Donald Fehr
Donald Martin Fehr is the executive director of the National Hockey League Players Association. He became nationally prominent while serving as the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association from 1985 to 2009...
concern criticism measures players program reasonable several share
We share your concern about the criticism our program has received, and, in response, the players have demonstrated, several times now, their willingness to take all reasonable measures in response.
appears concern criticisms current fair game initial measures penalty players program reasonable required response several share
It appears the 50 game initial penalty is principally a response to criticisms which have been made of our current program. We share your concern about the criticism our program has received, and, in response, the players have demonstrated, several times now, their willingness to take all reasonable measures in response. But we are still required to adopt, and defend, reasonable, fair and appropriate agreements.
among auto both bunch contract informal opening quite research sort staff sure ways workers
There's some informal discussions among staff going on and a bunch of research being done by both sides. I don't think it will be too long before we start. I'm not really sure we'll have some sort of a formal opening like the auto workers with a big picture. We're still quite a ways from contract expiration.
record track
We have some track record of working things out ...
business far last people prediction suggest
We were able to get it done the last time, but having said that, I am so far out of the prediction business and have been for 10 or 12 years that I don't want to suggest I know things that other people don't because I just don't.
agreement coming internal issues meetings relevant specifics talk
We never talk about specifics of internal meetings. We have an agreement coming up and we talk about issues relevant to preparation for that. We keep our internal meetings confidential.
agreement both evident failure far given interests reach shared thus
Given our shared interests and the association's evident willingness to compromise, our failure thus far to reach a comprehensive new agreement is both frustrating and disappointing.
understand
I don't understand one thing. It's traditional in this country, when someone is accused, to let him tell his story to an independent body.
expect gets hard paid
I expect it to be pretty hard bargaining. That's the way it always is. That's what we get paid for. That's what the commissioner (Bud Selig) gets paid for.
anybody bunch curious happen nobody plays start whenever
Obviously, I'm very curious to see how it plays out. Whenever you start something new like this, you never know what it's going to be like. You know a that whole bunch of things are going to happen that nobody thought about, and they're going to happen in a different way than anybody thought about. But you don't know what they are.
expect highest operating rather reported teams true
One of the things we'll look at is reported profits. You expect teams with the most revenue, rather than the revenue-sharing recipients, to have the highest operating profits. That may not be true in very many cases, and that's something we need to look at.
beginning closure everybody happened penalty
Obviously, we thought from the beginning that the penalty was excessive. Hopefully, everybody understands what has happened and we can put closure on this issue.
bad suggested
No one has suggested it was a bad idea.
books gone players spring video watching
More memos have gone out, books have gone out. There's a video that players are watching in spring training.