Minor Leaguers Have Rights, Too

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BY ALEX GRIFFEL

Over the last several months, the movement to protect young athletes against exploitation by antitrustexempt businesses (such as the NCAA) has scored major victories. The Northwestern University football players’ union, the public outrage following Shabazz Napier’s statement that he and his teammates went to bed hungry because they couldn’t afford dinner, and the O’Bannon v NCAA case victory all underscore the reality that the American public will not stand for the exploitation of its youth anymore. At the same time, there is a far more troubling lawsuit pending regarding the wages of minor league baseball players.

This fracas with the NCAA is paralleled by the case of Senne v. MLB. Last February, GarrettBroshuis, a Minor League pitcher turned lawyer, filed a suit on behalf of three Minor Leaguers: Aaron Senne, Michael Liberto, and Oliver Odle. Since then, dozens more Minor Leaguers have signed on in a joint suit against all 30 Major League teams. The suit is intended to challenge the practice of paying Minor Leaguers what amounts to less than federal and state minimum wages. The players are trying to raise awareness of this fact and challenge MLB’s exploitative payment practices as a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act, as well as state law. Minor League Baseball players make between $1,100 and $2,150 dollars per month, depending on the level they’re at and the amount of experience they have. For perspective, a federal minimum wage of $7.25/hour over a 40 hour week provides an income of $290 per week, or $1160 per month. That’s right: the lowest level Minor Leagues don’t pay minimum wage. Consider additionally that players are only paid for the three to five month minor league season, instead of for 12 months. And while the top tier of drafted and international amateur talent receive million-dollar bonuses upon signing with organizations, most players do not.

For its part, MLB could argue that Minor League players should be treated as seasonal employees. The Fair Labor StandardsAct (FLSA) allows for an exemption to amusement and entertainment industries that operate less than seven months per year. However, while championship seasons certainly operate within that time frame, teams themselves earn revenue year round, and they maintain full time staffs in the offseason. For one example, Major and Minor League teams earn constant revenue from their television, endorsement, and marketing deals. Front office staff work year-round to identify players to draft, sign as free agents, or trade, and they must also take care of the business operations. The games played during the summer months are a small part of the overall business that organizations are doing.

Unfortunately, though many of them eventually contribute to Major League rosters and collectively form the backup to each team, Minor Leaguers are not protected by or members of the MLB Player’s Association. The MLBPA is the union that collectively bargains for the rights and salaries of Major League players. Without this protection, the Minor League players are protected only by the Uniform Player Contract that each team and player signs, which merely allows for salary negotiation once a player reaches free agency. It takes several years of team control to reach Minor League free agency though, and until that point the team sets the salaries and has the right to trade or release the player at will.

But why is this suit being filed against the Major League teams instead of their Minor League affiliates? They’re related franchises, but isn’t it the Minor Leagues’ problem? Not precisely, no. For the privilege of having access to the players on Minor League rosters, the Major League teams pay their affiliates’ salaries in whole. The Minor League affiliates benefit as well, getting 100 percent of the revenue from their operations ostensibly as compensation for losing their best players year after year, so everyone wins. Well, everyone except the players.

The Major League minimum salary in 2014 was $500,000, but according to Baseball America, only 17% of baseball players drafted from 1987-2008 played a game in the Majors. That statistic has likely gone up, as injuries and specialization, especially of bullpens, have led to a larger amount of necessary roster depth. Even so, the vast majority of Minor Leaguers never sniff the Majors. They’re left to take minimum wage or part-time jobs in the offseason to try to make ends meet, all for the sake of chasing a lifelong dream. Broadly protected by an antitrust exemption, MLB is exploiting these poor players’ dreams to serve its own selfish needs. It’s about time someone stood up and sued.

Court decisions and public opinion are increasingly moving against the NCAA’s exploitative practices, so there is hope for the Minor Leaguers as well. For now though, their day in court will come no earlier than 2016. It’s impossible to say whether the lawsuit will change the way MLB pays its farm teams, but it should be clear that for most of these men, the promise of a chance in the Majors is not enough to pay the bills. Something must change.

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