A SEAT AT THE TABLE

How a minor league players’ union became a reality

- J.J. COOPER

Like many transformative moments in history, the official recognition of a union representing minor league players happened surprisingly quickly.

It took less than three weeks from the day the Major League Baseball Players’ Association announced its desire to organize minor league players until the union was officially recognized by MLB on Sept. 9

It’s one of the more significant days in the history of the minor leagues. Going forward, MLB and the minor league players’ union will negotiate a Collective Bargaining Agreement, which means that many of the issues, such as wages, benefits and working conditions, that have been set unilaterally by MLB in the past will now be subject to negotiation.

Players for years have talked about how low pay and poor living conditions were a problem throughout the minors, but there had long been a hesitance to publicly speak out or to organize. Minor league playing careers are often quite short, and the fear that a player’s career could be affected was a strong deterrent to any efforts to unionize.

There were efforts around the edges. In 2009, Baseball America wrote about how players were disappointed that their request for a raise in the daily per diem from $20 to $25 was denied by MLB. The per diem bump was subsequently added a year later.

In 2014, a group of minor leaguers sued MLB and MLB teams over wages, arguing that they were not being paid minimum wage for work done in spring training and extended spring training, among other issues. One of the main attorneys bringing the case was Garrett Broshuis, a former Giants minor league pitcher.