In a sign of good sense and good public relations, the players recognize that the owners’ lockout harms others beside themselves and do something about it.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Players launching $1 million fund for workers affected by MLB owners’ lockout
NEW YORK, March 4—Players are launching a $1 million fund to help support workers affected by the lockout and cancellation of games by Major League Baseball owners.
The fund will be administered by Major League Baseball Players Association and the AFL-CIO and distributed to stadium workers and others who face financial hardship through no fault of their own due to the MLB franchise owners’ lockout.
The lockout was implemented by owners on Dec. 2 after spending months avoiding meaningful bargaining over issues of importance to players, including improving competition, providing fair compensation for younger players and upholding the integrity of MLB’s market-based economic system.
MLB announced on Tuesday that it would postpone the start of the regular season, depriving workers who are depending on baseball games for employment.
“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.”
The MLBPA will work with the AFL-CIO in the weeks ahead to determine the hardest hit communities and align resource distribution to those who need it most.
Staging more than 2,500 Major League Baseball games each year requires thousands of skilled workers — from concession crews, electricians, ushers, security, transportation and janitors to television and radio broadcasting crews and groundskeepers—who serve in their roles with pride and dignity.
“Whether you’re a worker on the baseball field, or a worker behind the scenes, we all deserve respect and dignity on the job,” said AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler. “The labor movement will do everything in our power to support these and all workers.”
The Players Association has worked closely with the stadium and hospitality workers across the country who are integral to Major League Baseball in recent years, and it recognizes the value they provide to the industry’s success.
“This fund is intended to support workers who are most affected by the MLB-imposed lockout but whose livelihoods have been disregarded by the owners in their efforts to pressure Players into accepting an unfair deal,” MLBPA Executive Director Tony Clark said.
LA Times lockout story.
Woo-Hoo!! Lock out is apparently over. Time for Dodger baseball. I wonder what MLB and the Dodgers will do with Bauer?
Yay!! No more ghost runner in extra innings.
The price, unfortunately, is the DH.
https://twitter.com/hgomez27/status/1502089637745020952
I like that they are still playing 162. Now when the Dodgers win the WS, we don’t have to listen to any doubters saying they can’t win in a full season.
AF has alot of work to do to get this team ready for a legitimate WS championship run.
Another week of games out the window. I think we will be lucky to have baseball by Memorial Day. Not sure how interested I will be when they finally do settle this mess.
Arrived in Buenos Aires yesterday after a torturous SFO-DFW-EZE flight. On the bright side, my cabbie into town was a Venezuelan with whom I could talk baseball.
An LA Times obituary for long-time defense attorney and USC leadoff man Jay Jaffe includes a mention of our own Scooplew.
Never heard of him, but sounds like an OK guy.
Scooplew?
I have met Scoop, face-to-face.
So have I. He visited Hawai’i last year and we had lunch.
We met up at a Dodger game in Oakland.
Dave Roberts, baseball Dad.
Verducci of SI has a proposal to end the lockout.
Players bend a little, owners sneer.
$1 mil is a nice thought and a nice start, but to cover workers at all 30 stadiums, there going to need the fund to grow.
You’d hope (wish) the stadiums had insurance policies to cover worker salaries in these kind of situations.
It seems the players may have shamed the owners into doing something similar. That said, they’re still pretty shameless.
Yep. Owners have to jump in and contribute or they really come off bad. They can all pound sand as far as I am concerned.
That the owners waited so long after they put the lockout into place before beginning negotiations, and slowly at that, shows what their mindset was. Too many of them don’t understand or appreciate baseball anywhere close to diehard fans such as us.
They see Ba$eba$$.
They don’t seem to understand that they’re slitting their own wrists.