John Gaherin

John J. Gaherin

• School Pratt Institute

• Born November 24, 1914 in New York City, NY USA
• Died January 24, 2000 in Hyannis, MA USA

Biographical Information

John Gaherin was chief negotiator for the owners of Major League Baseball from 1967 to 1978. Gaherin was hired in August 1967 as Special Labor Consultant for the owners, with responsibilities to advise the owners' Player Relations Committee. With labor leader Marvin Miller, he negotiated the first collective bargaining agreement in 1968, which established a minimum salary, and later he worked to negotiate pension plans. In 1975, he argued for the MLB Player Relations Committee in the arbitration case of Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally that eventually nullified the reserve clause.

Gaherin was the personnel manager of the Long Island Railroad in the mid 1950s, then became director of labor relations for the New Haven Railroad in 1957. In 1958 he was promoted to vice-president of New Haven Railroad. By 1964 he had become Labor Relation commitee charman for the Eastern Railroads before being elected as executive vice president of the New York Newspaper Publishers Association, serving as the chief negotiator.

Further Reading

• New York Times obituary