Posts tagged Major League Baseball Players Association
MLB players union expects lockout by team owners after CBA expires following 2026 season
March 4, 2025 // The salary cap is again an issue during this bargaining cycle. Team budgets are a major point of the discussion with the Los Angeles Dodgers building a payroll of an estimated $379 million, while the New York Mets aren't far behind at $312.5 million, according to Spotrac. (MLB's lowest payrolls are the Miami Marlins at $31.35 million and the Athletics at $55.25 million.) Clark counters by saying that several teams are already using the luxury tax threshold — in which teams are taxed 20-50% on the amount over the threshold, depending on how many years a franchise has done so — as a de facto salary cap. (This week, he criticized the Los Angeles Angels for doing so.) This year's luxury tax, or competitive balance tax, is set at $241 million.
Minor league baseball unionization getting interest from players
January 27, 2025 // Signed cards from 30% of minor leaguers in the bargaining unit would allow the union to file a petition with the National Labor Relations Board asking for a union authorization election, which would be decided by majority vote. Minor league players would have a separate bargaining unit from their big league counterparts.
MLB players’ union affiliate sues DraftKings, bet365 claiming unauthorized use of images
September 18, 2024 // A commercial affiliate of the Major League Baseball Players Association sued DraftKings and bet365 on Monday, alleging unauthorized use of player names and images.
Bad Bunny sports agency sues baseball players’ union over ban, announces Ronald Acuña Jr. as client
May 20, 2024 // The union issued a notice of discipline to Rimas agents William Arroyo, Noah Assad and Jonathan Miranda on April 10 and fined them $400,000 for misconduct. Arroyo was an agent certified by the union to represent players and represented Alvarez and teammate Ronny Mauricio. Arroyo was decertified and the other two told they could not apply for certification. Arbitrator Michael Gottesman denied the agents’ request to block the players’ association, a decision the union asked a federal court in Manhattan to confirm. Rimas was founded in 2021 with the goal of representing Latin players and said it currently has 68 clients, including 14 major leaguers. Rimas said the union had prevented it from representing players with agents who had not been disciplined.
COMMENTARY: By Ending Forced Representation, New Proposal in Congress Could Benefit Workers and Unions Alike
December 14, 2023 // Exclusive representation muffles the voices and denies the rights of at least a minority of workers, and imposes undue burdens on unions. Prioritizing workers’ choices and reducing government barriers to work pursuits are crucial to elevating workers’ voices, improving their well-being, and expanding their opportunities.
Voluntary Recognition of Unions Is Increasingly Popular Among U.S. Employers
January 23, 2023 // In January 2023, Microsoft recognized a union of playtesters at its subsidiary ZeniMax Studios; Major League Baseball voluntarily recognized minor league players’ choice to join the Major League Baseball Players Association in September; workers at a number of media organizations had their unions recognized throughout 2021 and 2022; and mission-driven organizations such as charities, museums, civil rights and environmentalist groups, think tanks, and other nonprofits all voluntarily recognized worker unions as well. Other businesses, including The Metals Company, Forever Energy, and the Association of Independent Commercial Producers, signed neutrality agreements with unions, under which the firms agreed to refrain from engaging in anti-union tactics during an election. Some companies have communicated that they have pursued voluntary recognition because their own organizations’ goals broadly align with those of workers. In particular, a number of mission-driven organizations have opted for voluntary recognition in recent years, including the Whitney Museum, the Shed, the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Los Angeles, the Brookings Institution, the National Center for Transgender Equality, Capital Roots, Code for America, and others. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), a national nonprofit that litigates to protect civil liberties, first voluntarily recognized the unionization of national staffers with the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE) Local 70, also called the Nonprofit Professional Employees Union, in 2021.* One of the ACLU’s state affiliates, the ACLU of Texas, also recognized its workers’ choice to unionize with United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 2320 in 2022. Indeed, as the ACLU of Texas stated after recognizing its employee union: Media and news organizations have seen some of the largest voluntary recognition agreements signed in the United States. Along with workers at Politico, The Atlantic, Public News Service, The State, and others, employees at Condé Nast won voluntary recognition for their staff union with the Communications Workers of America (CWA) in 2022. Spurred on by their co-workers at The New Yorker and other Condé Nast publications that voted in favor of joining the NewsGuild-CWA in 2018, these workers organized a union that covers 500 workers, including 100 subcontractors. Workers have also won voluntary recognition in the entertainment industry, including at the International Documentary Association, Seven Seas Entertainment, and the iHeartPodcast Network, as well as through the Animation Guild.
Minor league baseball players officially join MLBPA in ‘historic’ move
September 15, 2022 // In a statement, the league said: "Major League Baseball has a long history of bargaining in good faith with unions, including those representing minor and major league umpires, and major league players. We respect the right of workers to decide for themselves whether to unionize. Based on the authorization cards gathered, MLB has voluntarily and promptly recognized the MLBPA as the representatives of minor league players. We are hopeful that a timely and fair collective bargaining agreement will be reached that is good for the game, minor league players and our fans." Martin Scheinman, MLBPA executive director Tony Clark, Arbitrator Martin Scheinman,
MLBPA sends out union authorization cards in first step toward unionizing minor leaguers
August 30, 2022 // Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, tweeted Monday: "I welcome this step by MLBPA." The union's rank and file was not informed of the plan, with multiple major league players telling ESPN they were surprised by the news that the MLBPA would potentially expand its membership by nearly five times. Tony Clark
Labor lobbies up
February 15, 2022 // Nicole Brener-Schmitz, the former Teamsters lobbyist and NARAL political director, has registered to lobby for the Communications Workers of America on a range of issues that includes Democrats’ landmark labor overhaul, the PRO Act; the bipartisan infrastructure bill; congressional Democrats’ voting rights bills; the offshoring of call center jobs; union rights for state and local government workers; and paid leave. CWA also retains Emmer Consulting.
Marty Walsh Offers to Help Resolve MLB Lockout
February 12, 2022 // The longtime Red Sox fan said he had spoken with representatives of the owners and the Major League Baseball Players Association about the ongoing negotiations