AP

AP source: MLB, players reach minor league union deal

Sep 10, 2022, 3:06 AM | Updated: 3:07 pm

FILE - Tampa Tarpons manager Rachel Balkovec, center, exchanges fist bumps with her players, while ...

FILE - Tampa Tarpons manager Rachel Balkovec, center, exchanges fist bumps with her players, while making her debut as a minor league manager of the Tarpons, a Single-A affiliate of the New York Yankees, before a baseball game against the Lakeland Flying Tigers, Friday, April 8, 2022, in Lakeland, Fla. Players on the Single-A Tampa Tarpons have been talking individually about efforts to unionize minor league players and the idea is gaining momentum. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, File)

(AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — The players’ association will submit union authorization cards to an arbitrator on Wednesday under an agreement with Major League Baseball that will lead to collective bargaining for approximately 5,500 farmhands.

MLB and the union reached a card-check agreement Saturday, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because no announcement had been made.

Martin Scheinman, baseball’s permanent arbitrator, is expected to count the cards to determine whether more than 50% of the eligible players for the bargaining unit had signed. If a majority is achieved, MLB would recognize the union for minor leaguers and the players’ association would not have to ask the National Labor Relations Board to hold an election.

The bargaining unit would include minor leaguers except for 40-man major league roster players on option, who are covered by the big league union; players assigned to the Dominican Summer League, which is outside the U.S.; and players on the voluntary retired list.

Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said Friday he anticipated an agreement.

“Congratulations to our country’s minor league baseball players on a historic, swift, and overdue organizing victory, and to for taking this critical step,” President Joe Biden tweeted Saturday. “Every worker is entitled to be treated with dignity and respect – on the job and on the field.”

The minor league union would be a separate bargaining unit within the players’ association.

“Great news for our minor league baseball athletes who will now be able to join a union,” Vice President Kamala Harris tweeted. “This historic effort is long overdue and is thanks to players and leaders who fought years to organize.”

Players with major league contracts average more than $4 million and have a $700,000 minimum salary while in the big leagues. Their minimum is $57,200 while on option to the minor leagues with a first major league contract and $114,100 if a second or later big league contract.

MLB raised weekly minimum salaries for minor leaguers in 2021 to $400 at rookie and short-season levels, $500 at Class A, $600 at Double-A and $700 at Triple-A. For players on option, the minimum is $57,200 per season for a first big league contract and $114,100 for later big league contracts.

First-round draft picks this year agreed to signing bonuses for their initial contracts ranging from $2.1 million to $8.19 million. Sixty-seven of the top 68 selections are getting $1 million or more — the other $997,500.

MLB this year began requiring teams to provide housing for most minor leaguers.

MLB and lawyers for minor leaguers agreed this year to a $185 million settlement of an eight-year-old federal lawsuit alleging violations of minimum wage laws, a deal that may be finalized next year. An early estimate is that perhaps 23,000 players could share roughly $120 million with an average payment of $5,000 to $5,500, and their lawyers will split $55.5 million.

___

More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

AP

Associated Press

Ex-Packer Guion gets 1 year for domestic violence assault

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Former Green Bay Packers defensive tackle Letroy Guion was sentenced to one year in jail after pleading no contest in a domestic violence assault at his home last fall. Brown County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Walsh also ordered Guion on Tuesday to serve three years’ probation and complete a domestic […]

1 year ago

Joe Jarzynka...

Associated Press

Durant eager for Suns debut vs. Hornets after knee injury

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Kevin Durant has been through quite a bit during his 15-year NBA career — but joining a new team midway through the season is a new one for the 13-time All-Star. The 34-year-old Durant doesn’t seem all that worried. Durant makes his highly anticipated Phoenix Suns debut on Wednesday night against […]

1 year ago

FILE - Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores stands on the sideline during the second half of an N...

Associated Press

Judge: NFL coach can press discrimination claims in court

NEW YORK (AP) — NFL Coach Brian Flores can pursue some of his discrimination claims against the league and its teams in court rather than through arbitration, a judge ruled Wednesday. The written decision by Judge Valerie Caproni in Manhattan was issued months after lawyers for the league tried to get the lawsuit moved to […]

1 year ago

Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Alex Stalock cools off in the first period during an NHL hockey game ...

Associated Press

Kane trade reinforces hard reality of Blackhawks rebuild

CHICAGO (AP) — After days of speculation, the harsh reality of the Chicago Blackhawks’ situation was reinforced by one move in a flurry of transactions ahead of the NHL trade deadline. Showtime is over, at least in Chicago, and a seemingly bright future is, well, way off in the distance. The reverberations of Chicago’s decision […]

1 year ago

FILE -  Yves Jean-Bart, president of the Haitian Football Federation, wearing a protective face mas...

Associated Press

Disgraced ex-Haitian soccer president announces he’s back

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haiti’s former soccer federation president whose lifetime ban from sport over sexual abuse allegations was overturned last month announced Wednesday that he is reclaiming his position. Yves Jean-Bart’s defiant announcement could lead to a standoff with FIFA, which already has appointed an emergency management committee to lead the Haitian Football Association […]

1 year ago

FILE - Green Bay Packers' Aaron Rodgers walks off the field after an NFL football game against the ...

Associated Press

Rodgers says decision on future will come ‘soon enough’

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Aaron Rodgers says he will make a decision on his future “soon enough” as the four-time MVP quarterback ponders whether to play next season and if his future remains with the Green Bay Packers. Rodgers, 39, discussed his future while speaking on an episode of the “Aubrey Marcus Podcast” that […]

1 year ago

AP source: MLB, players reach minor league union deal