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Union workers gather at spring training to support underpaid minor leaguers
Hoping to bring awareness to the conditions under which minor-league players work, and more specifically the wages they earn, which often falls below minimum wage, the United Food and Commercial Workers’ union and its allies are gathering at four different spring training games this weekend to show support and provide information to questioning fans.
According to Ted Berg of USA Today Sports, the union had scheduled rallies at games in Tampa and Lakeland, Fla. on Saturday and will be in Scottsdale and Surprise, Ariz. on Sunday.
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Here are more details of the mission, courtesy of UFCW:
United Food and Commercial Workers’ union and allies will leaflet at four major league spring training games to raise awareness among fans about the plight of minor league players who often make less than minimum wage, are often not paid at all and are not paid federal overtime wages….
“We are leafletting at these games to support minor league ball players,” said Ed Chambers the president of UFCW Local 1625. “We support all workers, irrespective of industry, looking for fair wages and benefits and improved working conditions. Minor league players are no exception.”
According to research done by sports-law expert Michael McCann last February, most minor league players earn between $3,000 and $7,500 for a five-month season. By comparison, fast food workers average between $15,000 and $18,000 a year. It's not enough for many of these young players to live on, especially those with families, so they're forced to supplement their income with offseason jobs. In fact, some even need side jobs during the season to make ends meet.
Unfortunately for minor league players, they don't have a union behind them like the MLBPA, but 34 former minor leaguers have come together to fight for their cause. The group filed a lawsuit against Major League Baseball, former commissioner Bud Selig, and all 30 big-league teams last March that seeks to apply the terms of the Fair Labor Standards Act to minor league players despite MLB’s antitrust exemption.
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According to USA Today Sports, attorney Garrett Broshuis, who spent six years in the San Francisco Giants minor league system is representing the players. Here's more from their report, including a comment from Broshuis.
Endeavoring a career in professional baseball, as it currently stands, requires a trade-off: Players accept low wages in the short term for the chance, however small, that they will earn millions as Major Leaguers down the road. But Broshuis maintains that, in a $9 billion industry, the lowest-level employees deserve more than just an outside chance at a big-league salary.
“In almost any industry, there are entry-level jobs,” Broshuis said. “If you want to be a carpenter, for instance, you might start as an apprentice, or if you want to be a plumber you might start as an apprentice. But those entry-level jobs are still at minimum wage or above. That’s why we have the minimum wage laws. Major League Baseball has allowed these salaries to stay stagnant for so long that guys are below the poverty line now.”
In the multi-billion dollar business Major League Baseball has become, it's clear they have the means with which to better take care of the future. But until a change is forced, it seems they'll be content running business as usual. By the same token, forces on the other side are seemingly becoming more determined to force those changes, so movements like this weekend's could just be scratching the surface of what lies ahead.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
