Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred announced today that the league is prepared to voluntarily recognize the MLBPA as the new collective bargaining representative for minor league players. The announcement comes less than two weeks after the MLBPA sent out mandate cards to a junior league seeking to represent them, and just days after the league won “great” majority support and I formally requested That the commissioner’s office voluntarily recognize the seismic shift in player representation. According to Athletic’s Ivan Drillic (Lien Twitter), recognition is pending an agreement between the league and the union on the decision to screen the card – essentially an independent verification of the clearance cards sent out last month.
MLBPA CEO Tony Clark released a statement in response to MLB’s announcement (via James Wagner du New York Times):
« We are pleased that MLB is moving forward in this process in a productive manner. Although there are still important steps to take, we are confident that the discussions will come to a positive conclusion.«
Had the league not been agreed upon, the MLBPA would have partnered with the Federal National Labor Relations Board to push for elections among minor league members. Assuming the majority of those who voted agree to represent the MLBPA, the NLRB could have forced the hand of MLB to recognize the unions. These additional steps will not be necessary, following Manfred’s announcement today.
An MLBPA official told MLBTR last week that the proposed union effort would give junior agents their own separate bargaining unit under the MLBPA umbrella, adding that all CBA minor leaguers would be bargained independently of the CBA major league that was completed earlier this year. The MLBPA recently announced it has hired all members of the Advocates For Minor Leaguers, a move that bolstered the ranks of union leadership ahead of the change, which will see MLBPA membership grow from 1,200 to more. of 5,000.
MLB announcement numbers to expedite the process of possibly getting minor league players under the MLBPA umbrella. League recognition would be a tacit acknowledgment that a majority of smaller unions would likely have voted for unions had the AP petitioned the NLRB for an election.
Now it looks like all but a few of the junior candidates will soon become members of the MLB Players Association. This is totally uncharted territory for Little Leagues, which were previously not part of a federation. in full post Earlier this week, Drelish spoke to a handful of minor league players about the process. Drilech noted that junior-level Dominican Summer League players won’t automatically be included because they’re located outside of the United States, but that the MLBPA will now likely represent players from the National Complex Ball up to the Triple- A and plans to compromise on DSL. working conditions even if they have not joined The players have officially joined the Federation.
Drill writing tonight The league and MLBPA believe it is possible to achieve a CBA for minor league players in time for the start of the 2023 season. Negotiations will not begin long after MLB grants official recognition (assuming let that happen), and Drelish notes that a card verification deal could be done in the near future, barring any setbacks.
As he points out, the expected recognition comes just two months after members of Congress from both parties showed interest. Reconsider MLB Antitrust Exemption. The low pay rates of junior unions have been one of the criticisms of many legislators, but recognizing the union and signing a collective bargaining agreement with smaller unions would eliminate this problem. outside The world of competition law and in the field of labor law.
A massive change for the MLBPA, which also rejoin AFL-CIO this week. The union’s efforts to grow its membership and expand its reach with union leaders in other industries follow years of labor struggle. Clarke cited the contentious return-to-play negotiations following the COVID 2020 lockdown and last winter’s shutdown as reasons for joining the AFL-CIO.
