Six of the eleven umpires not attending will follow suit. Two of the remaining five umpires served the American League as scabs in the 1979 strike and are not members of the union. The tension is much greater than it's ever been. Baseball is in a state of chaos. Phillips cited dismissal threats against umpires by management, the strike zone issue, a pay dispute stemming from games between the Baltimore Orioles and the Cuban team and the use of amateurs, some who served as scabs in previous strikes, to monitor pitches by television and make determinations that affect the careers of professional umpires.
Umpires are also critical over lack of concern by management involving altercations with players.
In 1996 Roberto Alomar was suspended for five games after spitting in the face of umpire John Hirschbeck. Umpires believed the suspension was too lenient. At the beginning of July umpire Tom Hallion was suspended for three days after a bumping incident with a player. But the heart of the dispute is the fear on the part of umpires that baseball owners are preparing to further undermine past gains by locking them out after their present labor agreement expires on December 31. Under the terms of the current agreement, umpires are barred from striking, and the resignations serve as a way around the contract language.