MLB Players Association campaigning to unionize minor league players

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The Major League Baseball Players Association announced on Monday that it has launched a campaign to unionize minor league players.

Union authorization cards have been sent out to minor leaguers to form a separate bargaining team from the big league players following the union’s executive board unanimously approving the new initiative, the first of its kind, on Friday.

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

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MLB Players Association Executive Director Tony Clark answers questions from the media at Clover Park in Port St. Lucie, Florida, on Feb. 19, 2020. (Alejandra Villa Loarca/Newsday RM via Getty Images)

The authorization cards were sent out to between 5,000 and 6,000 minor league players, and 30% approval would allow the MLBPA to move forward with a petition to the National Labor Relations Board to ask for the new union.

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"This generation of Minor League Players has demonstrated an unprecedented ability to address workplace issues with a collective voice," Harry Marino, outgoing executive director of Advocates for Minor Leaguers, whose members all quit and work for the MLBPA. "Joining with the most powerful union in professional sports assures that this voice is heard where it matters most — at the bargaining table."

MLB