From Striking Down The Reserve Clause To Better Salaries, Here’s What Could Happen If Minor Leaguers Unionize

The Major League Players Association has offered to bring players in the minor leagues and unionize them. Here are some possible changes that could occur if that happens.

When the players in Major League Baseball unionized in 1966, it created a seismic shift in professional sports. No longer able to lord over the players, the owners were forced to follow U.S. labor law and with it, a series of changes that dramatically improved the work environment, pay, and benefits occurred through the collective bargaining process.

This past Sunday, the union for MLB players sent out authorization cards that allow players in the minor leagues to vote on whether they wish to join the MLBPA. Should they vote to join, it would add approximately 5,000 players to the rolls with the potential to unionize them.

“Minor leaguers represent our game’s future and deserve wages and working conditions that befit elite athletes who entertain millions of baseball fans nationwide,” said, Tony Clark, the executive director of the players’ association in a statement. “They’re an important part of our fraternity and we want to help them achieve their goals both on and off the field.”

As part of the process, Advocates for Minor Leaguers, the group that has been pushing for increased rights, pay and working conditions for years, folded into the MLBPA.

Should the players in the minor leagues vote to unionize under this new structure, there would be separate collective bargaining agreements from the ones for those in MLB.

While the priorities are not clearly defined at this stage, it’s clear that over the course of several labor deals for the unionized players in MiLB several issues could be addressed. Here are some possibilities.

Striking Down The Reserve Clause

A top target in labor negotiations for the new union representation would be to get the reserve clause removed.

Players in the minor leagues enter through a draft system or international signing. Once that has occurred by a club in the major leagues, a player is under control for six years of service time in the minors. That clock resets when a player enters MLB.

This reserve system of six years in the minors is something that has long been seen as constrictive. In what form the reserve system would be removed is unknown. While the majority of players in MLB see six years of service time before becoming free agents, most enter salary arbitration after three years. Players in MiLB may or may not see a salary arbitration system.

Improved Wages And Benefits

A driving force by Advocates for Minor Leaguers, gaining a living wage and housing for players in the minor leagues has been seen as a critical need. Union representation would be able to collectively bargain these core functions and improve them.

Appeals Process For Failing Drug Tests

Currently, any player that fails a drug test for banned substances has no recourse to appeal the outcome. This is a difference from the process in MLB. For every press release that announces a player under MLB contract has been suspended, there are assuredly players that appealed suspensions and had them overturned. The MLB process also ensures that positive tests are confidential until any appeals have been exhausted. A similar process for players in the minors could save careers for many players. Unionization would also allow statements on behalf of players to be communicated to a larger audience.

Revisiting NIL Rights

Name, image, and likeness (NIL) have been a hot topic within the college ranks, but it affects players in the minor leagues, as well. The amount players could garner has been limited without union representation. It seems that revisiting those rights as part of labor negotiations would become a topic at some point. As an example, when a fan purchases merchandise with just a team name on it, it has a different price point than one with a player name associated with it. That’s because the union for MLB players has negotiated rights for NIL.

What Else Could Eventually Arrive?

As was the case with players in Major League Baseball, change takes place throughout more than one labor deal. This incremental change is part of the process. Not everything the union seeks arrives during a given collective bargaining period. Not everything that gets accepted in a labor deal may be the ultimate the union could hope for.

Using the current form of the MLB/MLBPA basic agreement, here’s some possible other areas that could eventually arrive:

• Notification in advance of rule changes should those rule changes be unilateral
• Approval of relocation or expansion clubs based on travel distance
• Approval of schedule to account for travel time and off days