MLB to accept minor league players’ unionization
MLB will voluntarily recognize minor league players’ effort to unionize with the MLB Players Association….
Major League Baseball will voluntarily recognize minor league players’ efforts to unionize with the MLB Players Association, commissioner Rob Manfred announced Friday.
The move by MLB would formally accept the MLBPA as minor league players’ bargaining representative. The union and MLB are also working on an agreement on whom the bargaining unit will consist of and they hope to accomplish that by next week.
The MLBPA launched the unionization drive Aug. 28 and told MLB on Tuesday it had obtained signed authorization cards from 5,000 to 6,500 players with minor league contracts. If MLB had declined to accept the union, the players’ association’s next step would have been to ask the National Labor Relations Board to conduct an authorization election.
“We, I believe, notified the MLBPA today that we’re prepared to execute an agreement on voluntary recognition,” baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said during a news conference to announce on-field rules changes for next season. “I think they’re working on the language as we speak.”
Players on 40-man rosters who are on option to the minor leagues have been represented by the union since 1981. The vast majority of minor leaguers, though, have not been previously represented by the union, which intends to form a separate bargaining unit with its own dues and governance structure, such as player representatives and an executive board.
MLB raised weekly minimum salaries for minor leaguers in 2021 to $400 at rookie and short-season levels, $500 at Class A, $600 at Double-A and $700 at Triple-A. For players on option, the minimum is $57,200 per season for a first big league contract and $114,100 for later big league contracts. In addition, MLB this year began requiring teams to provide housing for most minor leaguers.
MLB and union negotiators have had an acrimonious relationship in recent years, leading to several grievances that remain pending. Manfred and union head Tony Clark held separate news conferences to announce the agreement that ended the lockout in March, and union officials did not attend MLB’s news conference Friday to announce the adoption of a pitch clock and defensive shift restrictions.
The five-year labor agreement expires Dec. 1, 2026, and MLB could seek a simultaneous expiration for a minor league deal. The minor leaguers’ greatest leverage may be ahead of opening day, March 31 at Triple-A and April 6 at lower levels, when a strike could lead each team to keep its dozen or so unionized players on option at training complexes playing makeshift games.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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