From a Legal Standpoint From a Legal Standpoint In a historical feat, minor league baseball players successfully unionized for the first time, joining the Major League Baseball Players Association (“MLBPA”) in September 2022. The process took a mere 17 days. It paved the way for collective bargaining to begin, so the minor league players could see well-deserved improvements in their wages and working conditions in the upcoming baseball season. The players’ association launched the unionization drive on August 28, 2022. Over half of the minor league players turned in union authorization cards over the course of one week. The players’ union sought voluntary recognition from Major League Baseball (“MLB”) to represent the minor leaguers on September 6, 2022. MLB voluntarily recognized the MLBPA as the minor league players’ bargaining representative on September 9, 2022, pending validation of the authorization cards. On September 14, 2022, an arbitrator approved the minor league players’ union authorization cards, marking their official date of unionization. The MLBPA now represents the roughly 5,000 players contracted to play on domestic minor league baseball teams, moving in what has been described as “record time” to obtain the authorization cards. According to one minor leaguer, “everyone [was] just raving with positivity…I haven’t come across one guy who’s against this right now.” The vast majority of minor leaguer players, with the exception of players on 40-man rosters on option to the minor leagues, had never been represented by a union before. Logistics has been an issue. The workforce is subject to turnover, because players make it to the big leagues or often depart the game. Minor league baseball players have historically received low pay and been subjected to tough working conditions. Players are only paid during the regular season and had often been forced to live with five or six players to pay rent. In addition, during the season, they must take extremely long bus rides from city to city in what fans and players reportedly call “the bushes”. An MLB franchise is generally worth over $2 billion, while minor league players typically make less than $14,000 per year. They are not paid for work during spring training or in the offseason. And many players’ pay is below the federal minimum wage. This is because Congress passed legislation in 2018 exempting minor league players from federal minimum wage and overtime requirements after extensive MLB lobbying. “Baseball’s minor leagues have long been a place of hyper exploitation, where ‘disposable populations’ essentially grind out a living under extraordinarily difficult conditions…[earning] poverty wages.” One legal expert noted that players, instead of simply feeling lucky to play the game they love, realized “they’re workers,” too. Indeed, one player stated, “people [were] more open to talking about what’s going on…it seem[ed] like the players [were] talking about it more in the clubhouses or on the field.” While this unionization win seemed to happen overnight, the advocacy that led to the win did not. Minor league players and their advocates have been pushing for better wages and working conditions for years. As a result of this activism, in 2021 and 2022, MLB raised minimum salaries for minor leaguers and finally mandated that teams were responsible for providing housing for players at home. In addition, MLB recently settled a federal class-action lawsuit that had been filed by minor leaguers who earned below poverty wages before the law legalizing the practice; MLB agreed to pay $185 million in settlement. The MLBPA will continue to represent the 1,200 major league players and will now represent minor league players, as well. The players deemed this arrangement to make the most sense, as most major leaguers remember what it was like to come up through the minors. In fact, it has been stated that major league players “view all professional players as part of a baseball fraternity.” continued on page 13 ~ O’Donoghue & O’Donoghue LLP ~ Minor League Baseball Players Win Unionization in Record Setting Time March 2023 7
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