Nice article on ESPN.com by Doug Pappas about baseball's labor history. The following quote is a pretty good encapsulation of why the owners have always been and likely always will be the bad guys:
Shortly after helping to force [then-Commissioner Fay] Vincent from office in September 1992, White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf explained the owners' new labor strategy: "You do it by taking a position and telling them we're not going to play unless we make a deal, and being prepared not to play one or two years if you have to."