Japanese baseball umpires, who had threatened a walkout to coincide with the season openers this Friday, have averted a strike, officials of their union said Monday.
In a third round of talks at the commissioner's office, officials of the umpires union came to an official agreement with the Central and Pacific leagues on instituting a subcommittee that will oversee negotiations for a new pay agreement.
"We didn't want to betray the fans who were looking forward to the season openers," said union official Atsushi Kittaka. "We will continue talks to resolve these matters."