OK, so I must confess I’m not a lawyer and don’t think at all like a lawyer, so some things are a mystery to me. But, in my simple mind, I find myself wondering what happens if the players just decertify their union and became a non-union shop. Would that not invalidate all of the convoluted rules about service time, arbitration, teams ‘owning’ players for 7 years, etc. and put teams in a situation where they have to hire players just like my boss hired me? (so far, I’ve not proven to be worth 10 years at $30 mil).
Or, is the result that the owner’s can then set whatever rules they want? Seems to me that would get them in trouble with anti-trust laws.
Baseball does have an anti-trust exemption, but I do believe that it was lifted when it comes to labor.
I believe that to a certain extent, the players believe the rules benefit them. For example, without the union, it would be difficult to fight collusion. In addition, keeping the number of free agents low each year makes the ones available more valuable. Or at least that’s how it used to be.
The owners hired smarter people and figured out how to use this system to their advantage.
If I’m running the union, I’m spending the next five years trying to show how MLB will make more money giving players more freedom. Maybe that will turn out not to be true, but knowing if it is or isn’t should help them negotiate a fair deal.
Reply
Tom
Yeah, but you’re not running the union, so we’ll see how that goes . . .
These days (as opposed to 100 years ago) it seems to me most unions are mostly focused on ‘protecting their own’, meaning the jobs/income/benefits of their current leadership and membership; that tends to be contrary to the long-term best interest of their future members – and, in reality, of the union. We’ll see where that goes.
Personally, I decided along time ago to pay way less attention to the labor strife, contract disputes, players complaining about being underpaid, fans complaining about players being overpaid, etc. because it make it hard to just enjoy the games. I don’t care if Miguel Cabrera is grossly overpaid, I still like to watch him hit.
OK, so I must confess I’m not a lawyer and don’t think at all like a lawyer, so some things are a mystery to me. But, in my simple mind, I find myself wondering what happens if the players just decertify their union and became a non-union shop. Would that not invalidate all of the convoluted rules about service time, arbitration, teams ‘owning’ players for 7 years, etc. and put teams in a situation where they have to hire players just like my boss hired me? (so far, I’ve not proven to be worth 10 years at $30 mil).
Or, is the result that the owner’s can then set whatever rules they want? Seems to me that would get them in trouble with anti-trust laws.
Baseball does have an anti-trust exemption, but I do believe that it was lifted when it comes to labor.
I believe that to a certain extent, the players believe the rules benefit them. For example, without the union, it would be difficult to fight collusion. In addition, keeping the number of free agents low each year makes the ones available more valuable. Or at least that’s how it used to be.
The owners hired smarter people and figured out how to use this system to their advantage.
If I’m running the union, I’m spending the next five years trying to show how MLB will make more money giving players more freedom. Maybe that will turn out not to be true, but knowing if it is or isn’t should help them negotiate a fair deal.
Yeah, but you’re not running the union, so we’ll see how that goes . . .
These days (as opposed to 100 years ago) it seems to me most unions are mostly focused on ‘protecting their own’, meaning the jobs/income/benefits of their current leadership and membership; that tends to be contrary to the long-term best interest of their future members – and, in reality, of the union. We’ll see where that goes.
Personally, I decided along time ago to pay way less attention to the labor strife, contract disputes, players complaining about being underpaid, fans complaining about players being overpaid, etc. because it make it hard to just enjoy the games. I don’t care if Miguel Cabrera is grossly overpaid, I still like to watch him hit.
That’s a great attitude.