In American sports, there is unity among its athletes. For example, the proposal that could significantly improve the salary and working conditions of minor league baseball players, since the MLB Players Association (MLBPA) announced that it launched an effort to unionize Minor League players in the US.
Boasting that this initiative received “overwhelming support,” the MLBPA has distributed union authorization forms to Minor League players, the first step in ensuring representation of the roughly 3 thousand 500 players potentially benefitedwho have denounced “poverty wages” and “poor living conditions”.
How much does a minor league baseball player earn?
According to newspaper information USA Todaylos minor league salaries have remained virtually unchanged over the past quarter century, and this 2022 minimum wages are $400 a week at the rookie level, $500 at Class A, $600 at Class AA, and $700 in Class AAA, top earners.
The difficult situation of the minor leaguers has drawn the attention of American politicians, in particular Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, who last July sought information from MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred about the impact of the antitrust exemption on Minor League players and teams. . Durbin later said that Manfred’s response “raises more questions than he answers”.
In a letter to player agents obtained by USA Today, MLBPA Executive Director Tony Clark notes that the Class AAA minimum wage of $15,400 is just above the poverty line of the household of a person in 2022 of 13 thousand 590.
It also says that the revenue generated from minor league product sales alone ($85 million) “far exceed what clubs spend on annual minor league salaries, a stunning illustration of the imbalance between the compensation minor league players receive and the value they create.”
Now, players have a broader framework to seek salary improvementswith the MLBPA bringing half a century of negotiating experience to a group of players who historically lacked influence and, due to their transient status, fought to improve working conditions.
