MLB players launch $1 million fund to support workers hurt by lockout
Baseball is enduring an owner-imposed lockout for the first time in 27 years. To support workers hurt by the lockout, MLB players launched a $1 mill. fund.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred and MLB owners canceled the first two series of the 2022 season. For the first time since the players' strike of 1994-95, the baseball league is losing regular season games because a new CBA, or collective bargaining agreement, has not yet been agreed to, and MLB owners are simply unwilling to permit the offseason to proceed without one. More info on that here.
As much as MLB players are affected by that decision, especially as they are not receiving a salary for any of the games they're missing, they are not the only ones heavily affected. Thousands of workers who depend on MLB games for employment have been displaced.
MLB players show support to workers hurt by lockout
On Friday morning, the MLB Players Association announced that its players are launching a $1 million fund to support those affected by the owner-imposed lockout.
MLBPA executive director Tony Clark said in a statement that “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 effort to pressure Players into accepting an unfair deal.”
Andrew Miller and Max Scherzer, MLBPA executive board leaders, also said in a joint statement on Thursday that there are many people who work behind the scenes to make MLB great. They stressed that this fund is their way of showing support to these vital workers to the organization.
Partnering with the AFL-CIO, the fund will target workers who need the support the most.
See Also:
Why did the MLB go on lockout? When did the lockout start?
On Dec. 1, the collective bargaining agreement, which is the negotiated treaty that rules the working alliance between MLB players and team owners, expired. Owners then unanimously voted on a lockout that forbids any work to be done, meaning no games, no player trades, and no using team facilities.
It’s been three months since.
For the last few weeks, CBA negotiations have been going on, with the hopes of reaching a deal by 5 pm ET on March 1. But even after an extension of Monday's informal deadline, the MLB and the MLBPA were not able to end the imposed lockout as the MLBPA did not accept the "final" proposal made by owners.
Subsequently, commissioner Rob Manfred announced that regular season games will be canceled. It is now unknown when the MLB regular season will take off.
MLB owners fight their greatest asset
Last Tuesday, which marked the three-month anniversary of the lockout, MLBPA executive Tony Clark reflected on the MLB lockout.
"Today is a sad day. We came to Florida to navigate and negotiate for a fair collective bargaining agreement. Despite meeting daily, there is still significant work to be done. The reason we are not playing is simple: a lockout is the ultimate economic weapon. In a $10 billion dollar industry, the owners have decided to use this weapon against the greatest asset they have: the players."