The Lockout May Have Ended, But Union-Busting Perspectives Persist
Today, we look at some lingering rumors about the recent conclusion of the agreement between MLB and the MLBPA.
IBWAA members love to write about baseball. So much so, we've decided to create our own newsletter about it! Subscribe to Here's the Pitch to expand your love of baseball, discover new voices, and support independent writing. Original content six days a week, straight to your inbox and straight from the hearts of baseball fans.
Pregame Pepper - Baseball Is Back!
Leading Off
Union Busting In The Media Perpetuates After Lockout
By Daniel R. Epstein @depstein1983
In the constant media bombardment of modern society, we’ve become accustomed to knowing every minute detail of the sports world. Yet, every once in a while, something happens for which we never get an explanation. That’s okay! We aren’t entitled to omniscience, and from time to time, we need that reminder.
On March 10, MLB and the MLBPA signed a new collective bargaining agreement and MLB ended its lockout. Even as the at-large baseball universe rejoiced, the union did not vote unanimously to accept the agreement. As has been widely reported, their entire eight-member Executive Subcommittee voted against it, as did four of the 30 team reps. The final vote was 26-12 in favor.
It’s certainly curious that their leadership would take a hard stance against the agreement, even as they decided to put it up for a vote in the first place. Naturally, this led to speculation among the punditry. It may have been a strategic decision, knowing they already had enough votes for it to pass. Perhaps they thought MLB’s last-second demand that the MLBPA drop their grievance against MLB which could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars and compel them to finally open their books was a bridge too far.
No agreement is perfect and there is any number of reasons why the Executive Subcommittee could have voted against it, even as they secured significant gains for their members in other aspects of the deal. Talking heads are free to wonder and editorialize, but some of them crossed a line.
Inexerptly and with no supporting information, supposed “experts” across the industry posited the Exec Subcommittee does not fully represent the interests of their members. You’ve probably heard some of the allegations by now:
“They only look out for the rich.” The biggest wins of this deal for the players are the increased minimum salary and the brand-new $50 million pre-arbitration bonus pool. If they only cared about the richest players, they wouldn’t have made these demands the highest priority of negotiations.
“They secretly work for Scott Boras.” Five of the eight members on the Executive Subcommittee are represented by baseball’s most prominent agent. The vast majority of the nearly 1,200 MLBPA members are not. Under no circumstance would they have been elected to leadership positions in the first place if they were doing the bidding of just one agent.
“They’re out of touch with what their members want.” Again, these leadership positions are elected. Every MLBPA member gets to choose them. It is a direct democratic republic. Anyone outside the union accusing them of failing to represent their members without good cause exposes themself as a complete fool pushing a slanted anti-union agenda.
Sometimes, people just don’t agree on things even when they have the same interests. Perhaps that’s all there is to it. In any event, suggesting the Executive Subcommittee is out of touch with members or has ulterior motives is reckless and haphazard at best, underhanded union-busting at worst. This goes quintuple for pundits employed by MLB and/or MLB Network (looking at you Dan O’Dowd and Billy Ripken).
The union’s leadership had their reasons for voting the way they did. We aren’t entitled to know them. Superimposing anti-labor narratives is dangerously irresponsible journalism. In the end, they were outvoted and MLB has resumed. Sometimes, we just have to leave it at that.
Daniel R. Epstein writes for Baseball Prospectus, Of the Bench Baseball, and Bronx Pinstripes. He serves as co-director of the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America.