MLB players' association trying to unionize minor leaguers

The Major League Baseball Players Association is attempting to unionize minor leaguers, reversing decades of opposition.

The players' association said Monday it is circulating union authorization cards among players with minor league contracts to form a separate bargaining unit from the big leaguers.

While the average major league salary is above $4 million US, players with minor league contracts earn as little as $400 a week during the six-month season.

"Minor leaguers represent our game's future and deserve wages and working conditions that befit elite athletes who entertain millions of baseball fans nationwide," players' association executive director Tony Clark said 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."

The union's executive board unanimously approved the minor league initiative on Friday.

Clark was not available to respond to questions, spokesman Chris Dahl said.

Signed cards from 30 per cent of the estimated 5,000 to 6,000 minor leaguers in the bargaining unit would allow the union to file a petition to the National Labor Relations Board asking for a union authorization election. MLB also could voluntarily recognize the union representing the bargaining unit, a process that typically can occur if most of the unit signs cards.

The staff of Advocates for Minor Leaguers, which formed two years ago, quit and will work for the MLBPA. The union gave the minor league group $50,000 last November.

"This generation of minor league players has demonstrated an unprecedented ability to address workplace issues with a collective voice," Harry Marino, the executive director of Advocates for Minor Leaguers, said in a statement. "Joining