MLB will recognize minor league players' union with MLB Players Association: report

Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com.

MLB will reportedly recognize minor league players' union with the MLB Players’ Association, commissioner Rob Manfred said.

The timeline on this issue was already moving quickly. But now that Manfred said the league will voluntarily recognize it, ESPN says that timeline will move even faster. 

On Aug. 29, it was announced the MLBPA launched a campaign to unionize minor league players. Union authorization cards were sent out to minor leaguers to form a separate bargaining unit from the big league players after the union’s executive board unanimously approved the first-of-its-kind initiative. 

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, left, and Major League Baseball Players Association Executive Director Tony Clark speak before Game 1 of baseball's World Series between the Houston Astros and the Atlanta Braves Oct. 26, 2021, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ron Blum, File)

"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."

MLBPA REJECTS LEAGUE'S OFFER FOR INTERNATIONAL DRAFT

The authorization cards were sent out to between 5,000 and 6,000 minor league players, and the MLBPA received the percentage of support necessary to move forward with a petition to the National Labor Relations Board to ask for the new union.

Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred speaks during a news conference after negotiations with the players' association toward a labor deal March 1,