MLB Players Association announces $1 million fund for workers affected by lockout
With the start of the MLB regular season delayed for at least two series, the MLB Players Association is trying to help the workers who just lost around a week of work and potentially more.
The union announced Friday that it is creating a $1 million fund to help team employees impacted by the lockout imposed by the league's owners. The fund will be administered by the MLBPA and the AFL-CIO, with plans to determine the communities hit hardest in the weeks ahead.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Players launching $1 million fund for workers affected by MLB owners’ lockout@mlbpa | @AFLCIO pic.twitter.com/M2UIxPD4lO— MLBPA Communications (@MLBPA_News) March 4, 2022
From the statement:
"There are a lot of people who make our game great. Many aren't seen or heard, but they are vital to the entertainment experience of our games," MLBPA executive board leaders Andrew Miller and Max Scherzer said Thursday. "Unfortunately, they will also be among those affected by the owner-imposed lockout and the cancellation of games. Through this fund, we want to let them know that they have our support."
Among the types of workers the MLBPA described in the statement are concession crews, electricians, ushers, security and transportation personnel, janitors, television and radio broadcasting crews, and groundskeepers. Funds could come from the war chest the union has built in recent years in anticipation of the now-ongoing labor standoff.
Soon after the union's announcement, MLB let it be made known it is setting up its own fund to help its lockout-impacted employees, per ESPN's Jesse Rogers.
Where MLB and the MLBPA stand in lockout
It has been more than three months since the owners imposed the lockout on the players, and the consequences have begun to mount.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred announced earlier this week that each team's first two series of the regular season would be canceled after the owners and union could not come to a resolution by the league's self-imposed Feb. 28 deadline, which had been pushed back a day amid a final flurry of ultimately unsuccessful negotiations.
There are myriad topics the two sides have disagreed on, but first and foremost may be a competitive balance tax threshold that the owners refused to budge on, demanding the number be locked in at $220 million for three seasons. Given that many teams have taken to treating the CBT threshold as a de facto salary cap, the players balked at the low threshold while team revenues rise.
Also at issue are things like a bonus pool for pre-arbitration players, the MLB minimum salary, the size of an expanded postseason and changes to the draft system. The owners canceling regular-season games also means that players receiving full compensation this year will be another topic of debate, as players aren't going to want to give up contract-stipulated salary when it was the owners who imposed the lockout and canceled games.
