[MLS] There's no labor peace but nor is there war. Upon the expiration of the second extended deadline to reach an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement, Major League Soccer advised the MLS Players Union that it will not lock out the players, and the players did not strike. On Friday, they will continue to prepare for the 2010 season but they will be doing so without a CBA.

Both sides issued statements late Thursday:

Major League Soccer:
"We have told the Players Union that the League does not plan to lock out the players and we are prepared to begin the season under the current CBA while we continue to bargain to reach agreement on a new CBA.

“We have listened to the issues raised by the MLS Players Union and the League has made detailed proposals that have addressed these issues, including in the areas of economics, guaranteed contracts, options and the ability of a player to move to another MLS Club if he is released by his current Club.  These proposals, which represent substantial changes from the current CBA, will significantly increase our spending and provide substantially more rights to the players."

MLS Players Union executive director Bob Foose:
“Effective at midnight tonight, our collective bargaining agreement with MLS will expire. While we expect that negotiations with MLS will resume at some point, there simply hasn’t been enough progress made in the negotiations to date to warrant an extension of the old agreement.

"We have advised our players to keep working for the time being, but as of Friday they will be doing so without a CBA. In the meantime, all options are being considered as the process continues. We are completely committed to forging real changes to the way MLS players are treated.”