Sports Nut: Emancipation of the Minors

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Sports Nut Emancipation of the Minors Hundreds of pro baseball players make just $1,100 per month. Where is their César Chávez? By Lily Rothman Posted Tuesday, Apr 03, 2012, at 03:08 PM ET In one of America's most fabled industries, there's a hidden underclass of workers that has a starting salary of $1,100 a month and gets paid for only half the year. They are subject to territorial monopolies, restrictions on labor movement, and caps on salaries that are illegal in other businesses. Though not members of a union, their lives are influenced by one of the most powerful labor associations in the country, a group whose members—people who work in the same industry for the same organizations and were once in the same position—have a vested interest in keeping them down. They are minor-league baseball players. With this baseball season comes a new collective bargaining agreement, negotiated by Major League Baseball's owners and players association this offseason. As it usually does, the MLBPA secured a minimum wage increase; by 2014, the lowliest major leaguer will earn at least half a million dollars. But the labor deal also sets new limits on the bonuses paid in the amateur draft, which the players' union gets to negotiate even though they don't represent draftees. Indeed, today's major leaguers rarely hesitate to sell out their eventual replacements: In the agreement that took hold in 2007, the players signed off on a change that kept minor leaguers out of free agency for an extra year. Gene Orza, who recently retired as the MLBPA's No. 2 lawyer, says there's nothing wrong with that. "We don't represent them ... To continue reading, click here. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate Spitzer: It's Way Too Soon for Conservatives To Gloat About Obamacare's Tough Week in Court The Real Reason Some Indian Parents Marry Off Extremely Young Girls The National Weather Service Is Finally Making Tornado Warnings as Scary as They Should Be	Advertisement
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