MLBPA Takes First Steps To Unionize MiLB Players, Improve Life On-Off Field
Monday, August 29, 2022 at 05:48PM By Barry Janoff
UPDATED September 6, 2022: Last week, the Major League Baseball Players Association, which represents the 1,200 players on the rosters of all 30 MLB teams, distributed union authorization cards that would allow the nation's 5,000 Minor League Baseball players to vote on joining the union.
According to AP Sports, the MLBPA asked MLB management Tuesday to “voluntarily accept the union as the bargaining agent for minor leaguers.”
Bruce Meyer, the union’s deputy executive director, sent a letter to MLB Deputy commissioner Dan Halem that claimed a majority of minor leaguers had signed authorization cards.
“Minor league players have made it unmistakably clear they want the MLBPA to represent them and are ready to begin collective bargaining in order to positively affect the upcoming season,” MLBPA executive director Tony Clark said via the organization, according to AP Sports.
Tony Clark, the executive director of the MLBPA, is scheduled to speak at a National Press Club-sponsored Headliner event tomorrow (Sept. 7).
Clark is scheduled to be joined by AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler.
August 29, 2022: Calling it a “historic effort,” the Major League Baseball Players Association said it has taken the first of numerous steps toward unionizing Minor League Baseball players nationwide.
The process began Sunday with MLBPA sending out cards to MiLB players, asking them to sign and authorize an election to initiate the process to be represented by MLBPA.
MLBPA said the decision has received “overwhelming support from the MLBPA’s executive board.”
The effort is also supported by Advocates for Minor Leaguers, a group that has been working to improve wages and conditions for MiLB players.
There are more than 5,000 MiLB players.
"Minor Leaguers represent our game's future and deserve wages and working conditions that befit elite athletes who entertain millions of baseball fans nationwide," Tony Clark MLBPA executive director, said via the organization.
“They're an important part of our fraternity and we want to help them achieve their goals both on and off the field."
According to
industry analysts, for MLBP to be able to move forward, 30% of minor-league players would need to sign the authorization card to begin the process.
A formal election would follow, during which more than 50% of MiLB players would have to approve representation by MLBPA.
That in turn would require MLB to recognize the union under National Labor Relations Board laws.
The MLBPA would then be able to work with MLB on a MiLB CBA.
"This organizing campaign is an investment in the future of our game and our player fraternity," said Clark of the efforts to unionize MiLB.
MLBPA Is the union that represents players on the 40-man rosters of the 30 Major League baseball teams and oversees MLB Players, Inc., which exclusively represents the group commercial and licensing activities involving active players.
On behalf of its members, the union also operates the Major League Baseball Players Trust, a 501(c)3 charitable foundation that supports youth baseball development as well as a full range of causes and initiatives as directed by its member players.
According to the Advocates for Minor Leaguers, “Minor League hockey (PHPA), basketball (BPU), and soccer (USLPA) players all have union representation. As a result, these professional athletes have a seat at the table and are treated as partners in their respective leagues.
“Minor League baseball players have no union and therefore labor under rules and regulations imposed unilaterally by Major League Baseball.”
As part of the strategy to unionize MiLB, MLBPA said that “each member of the Advocates for Minor Leaguers staff has resigned to take on a new role working for the MLBPA."
"This generation of Minor League Players has demonstrated an unprecedented ability to address workplace issues with a collective voice," Harry Marino, former MiLB player and outgoing executive director of Advocates for Minor Leaguers, said via the organization.
“Joining with the most powerful union in professional sports assures that this voice is heard where it matters most – at the bargaining table." 
The move to unionize comes a month after MLB agreed to pay $185 million regarding a class-action lawsuit, filed by MiLB in February 2014, regarding such issues as minimum wage, overtime and quality of life. The suit itself was settled in May, less that a month before it was scheduled to go to trial.
Under the settlement, MLB is issuing a memo that allows teams to pay MiLB players during Spring Training, extended Spring Training and instructional leagues in Florida and Arizona.
MLB teams had previously had been prevented from making such payments.
According to Advocates For Minor Leaguers, “Players are paid only during the regular season and playoffs, despite being required to perform services year round. As a result, Minor Leaguers make an annual salary of between $4,800 and $15,400.
“Minor League players are the backbone of the professional baseball system. They deserve a living wage.”