Bargaining Power in Unions with High Turnover Rates: What MiLB Players and UC Graduate Student Researchers Have in Common
Transient workforces, such as Minor League Baseball (MiLB) players and University of California (UC) Graduate Student Researchers (“GSRs”), face issues unionizing and maintaining bargaining power with employers due to high turnover rates.[1] Unions are designed to help ensure that working people earn reasonable pay and benefits; however, decades of attacks on unions and an ever-changing economy continues to erode the power of unions in the United States, resulting in a decline of workers’ wages.[2] By definition, a labor union is a group of two or more employees who join together to advance common interests such as wages, benefits, schedules and other employment terms and conditions.[3] The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) provides organizing and bargaining rights to covered employees, but not independent contractors or other “workers,” such as agricultural and domestic.[4] Facing similar issues regarding the legal recognition of employee status, there are many parallels that can be drawn between the struggles that MiLB players and UC GSRs have faced throughout their respective journeys to union representation and later incorporation into pre-established unions.
Minor League Baseball Players Are Not Employees
Major League Baseball (MLB) is unique in that it has maintained its antitrust law exemption since 1922.[5] Antitrust laws are meant to prevent businesses from engaging in anti-competitive practices, which includes anti-competitive wage fixing.[6] Previously, minor league players were considered seasonal employees or apprentices, which allowed teams to pay them below the minimum wage.[7] For decades, the MLB has claimed exemptions for seasonal employees and apprenticeships, so clubs could pay their minor leaguers as little as $1,100 a month, an amount significantly below the pay that would be dictated under federal minimum wage and overtime standards.[8] Generally, the parent major league club pays the salaries and benefits of uniformed personnel (e.g., minor league players and coaches), while the minor league club pays for in-season travel and other operational expenses.[9] Major league players on the other hand are employees and are represented by a union, the MLB Players Association (MLBPA).[10] MLB salary disputes are governed by labor law—rather than antitrust law—under the terms of their collective bargaining agreement (“CBA”), meaning the MLBPA bargained for the salary terms.[11] Despite their frequent challenges to the MLB’s antitrust exemption, MiLB players failed to gain full employee status and gain the right to unionize, thus remaining subject to a pay scale set by the league’s teams and unable to collectively bargain for better pay.[12]
UC Graduate Student Researchers Are Only “Students”
Tracing back to the 1930s, UC workers, including teaching assistants and graduate researchers, “have organized to demand decent pay and a voice in the workplace.”[13] Despite lack of success for a few decades, graduate workers continued to press for union representation in the late 1960’s, but the UC Berkeley Administration maintained that Academic Student Employees (“ASE”) were not employees and therefore could not bargain collectively or be represented by a union.[14] In 1979, the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) passed the Higher Education Employer-Employee Relations Act (HEERA), granting collective bargaining rights to employees at state colleges and universities.[15] ASE’s union effort continued to spread throughout the UC system through the 1980’s and 90’s, and systemwide representatives voted to join the United Auto Workers Union (UAW).[16] While the UC system continued to maintain its position that ASEs were not workers, PERB, which oversees HEERA, issued a new ruling on the subject in 1998: teaching assistants, associates, as well as readers and tutors, were all employees in the view of the Board, thus allowing them to seek union representation.[17] GSRs however, remained unclassified as employees.
Transient Workforces’ Logistical Issues to Unionization
The major logistical problem that both these groups continue to face, is that their workforces are naturally transient. In the minor leagues, players typically don’t last long; clubhouses fluctuate constantly as players are promoted, demoted, released, or traded.[18] The players who do wind up staying in the same farm system realistically don’t want to be in the minor league long term, seeing as their goal is to make the major leagues.[19] Similarly, UC GSRs have a high turnover because of graduation requirements, considering most UC master’s programs are completed in one to two years, while Ph.D. programs are completed in four to seven years.[20] Consequently, workers in these transient environments are subjected to these labor issues for a short time and are less likely to succeed in forcing management’s hand.[21] Workforces with high turnover often lack consistent voices since leadership changes frequently, making it difficult for unions to develop relationships with employees and garner consistent support for adequate representation.[22]
Without the backing of a union, these high-turnover labor environments often create a large power imbalance between the employer and individual employees.[23] In the MiLB, Joe Hudson, a catcher in the Tampa Bay Rays organization, alluded to the employer-employee power imbalance regarding unionizing, stating: “[g]uys just didn’t think it was possible, point blank . . . Major League Baseball and the owners have too much power.”[24] Similarly, in the UC System, the universities hold a disproportionate amount of power because they could holdout on negotiating until GSR organizers finished their degrees, leaving the GSRs without consistent leadership.[25] The employer-employee power imbalance that exists without unionization allows for employers to suppress employee compensation.[26]
The MiLB’s Unionization Success
Recent rulings, however, seem to indicate a changing of the tide. MiLB player’s journey to fair compensation took a major step in March 2022, when Chief Magistrate Judge Joseph C. Spero of the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California ruled that minor leaguers are year-round employees who work during training time.[27] In Senne v. Kan. City Royals Baseball Corp., et al., (2014), forty-four former players sued the MLB, claiming violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and state minimum wage requirements.[28] Judge Spero ultimately determined that the MLB is a joint employer with teams of minor league players, and that those players perform “work” during spring training.[29] He awarded the class $1.88 million in a pretrial ruling for the league’s lack of compliance with California, Arizona, and Florida wage laws.[30] In May 2022, it was announced that a settlement had been filed with U.S. District Court in San Francisco.[31] The details were revealed in July, that the MLB settled the class action suit for $185 million to be split between 23,000 current and former minor league players.[32]
Senne paved the way for the unionization of MiLB players.[33] In August 2022, over 5,000 MiLB players received union authorization cards from the MLBPA, with the union seeking to represent them as their own bargaining unit separate from MLB players.[34] Seventeen days later on September 14, 2022, a majority of the MiLB players signed the union authorization cards and representation was considered a done deal.[35] Since the deal’s completion, the MLB stated that minor league players will receive significant benefits, including free housing, quality health care, multiple meals per day, college tuition assistance, and over $450 million in annual signing bonuses.[36]
GSRs Gaining Ground to Adequate Representation
Similar to recent rulings trending in favor of MiLB players, newly enacted state statutes have benefited GSRs as well. Despite many UC workers gaining the right to unionize and collectively bargain in 1998, GSRs were determined to be fundamentally students and not “employees” as defined by the state laws governing unionization for the UC System.[37] On October 15, 2017, California Governor Jerry Brown signed an amendment to HEERA, expanding the definition of “employee” to include all student employees at UCs, including GSRs, whose work is an integral part of their educational objectives.[38] This amendment, which took effect in 2018, grants GSRs eligibility to become exclusively represented by a union.[39] UAW 2865 has since expanded their union representation to cover all ASEs, including now eligible GSRs.[40]
The UC Santa Cruz and UC Santa Barbara “wildcat” strikes for cost-of-living-adjustment (“COLA”) salary increases failed in 2020 because they took place without the backing of the UAW.[41] The UC Regents claimed that the UC system’s four-year contract with the union, set to expire in 2022, included “fair pay and excellent benefits,” despite many GSRs being unable to afford sufficient housing due to rising rent prices.[42] These failed strikes set the stage for the recent COLA strikes in 2022. In fall of 2022, UC GSRs across the UC system came together to conduct the largest higher-education strike in U.S. history over a six-week span.[43] The strike ended in late December 2022 when the University of California ratified three-year contracts to meet some of the students’ demands.[44] While the GSRs attained some of their goals, there is still much to be done on the road to just compensation.
The most critical part of the organizing process is often the most basic step: employees coming together to discuss their struggles and how unionization may help offer a better future.[45] For the MiLB players, they spent focused time talking to each other, working with nonprofit support groups, and the MLBPA to discuss the important reforms that could be made possible with a union.[46] The GSRs coalesced across the UC System, beyond their individual campuses, to organize unified demands and system-wide strikes. Both groups have quickly seen improvements as a result of redefining their labor forces’ legal statuses to actual “employees,” garnering them more rights. They are on a positive trajectory through their respective unionizations and have made affirmative steps towards reasonable compensation. The unions will continue to advocate on behalf of their employees and hope to see further improvements in the future.
[1] Dave Jamieson, Amazon’s Greatest Weapon Against Unions: Worker Turnover, HuffPost (June 17, 2021, 10:25 AM), https://www.huffpost.com/entry/amazon-worker-turnover-anti-union_n_60ca1b3ee4b0d2b86a818d1b.
[2] Labor Unions and the Future, Center for Am. Progress, https://www.americanprogress.org/events/labor-unions-future/(last visited Feb. 3, 2023).
[3] U.S. Dept. of Labor, Worker Organizing Resource and Knowledge Center: Unions 101 (2023).
[4] Id.; National Labor Relation Act, 29 U.S.C. §§151 -169.
[5] Evan Drellich, U.S. Senate Requests Information on MLB’s Antitrust Exemption from Commissioner Manfred, The Athletic (July 18, 2022), https://theathletic.com/news/us-senate-mlb-antitrust-manfred/czCdXJCAAatD/.
[6] Drellich, supra note 5.
[7] Chris Cwik, Minor-League Baseball Players May Be Exempt from Federal Labor Laws Soon, Yahoo!Sports (Mar. 18, 2018), https://sports.yahoo.com/minor-league-baseball-players-may-exempt-federal-labor-laws-soon-034250000.html.
[8] Id.
[9] Overview of Baseball’s Minor League Organization, The Sports Advisory Grp., https://www.thesportsadvisorygroup.com/resource-library/business-of-sports/overview-of-baseballs-minor-league-organization/ (last visited Feb. 3, 2023).
[10] Drellich, supra note 5.
[11] Id.
[12] Id.
[13] Our History, UAW 2865, https://uaw2865.org/about-our-union/our-history/ (last visited Feb. 3, 2023).
[14] Id.
[15] Employee & Labor Relations – HEERA, U.C. Riverside, https://hr.ucr.edu/front/employee-and-labor-relations/collective-bargaining/employee-labor-relations-heera (last visited Feb. 3, 2023).
[16] Our History, supra note 13.
[17] Id.
[18] Emma Baccellieri, Inside the Drive: The Minor Leaguers Who Sprung a Union on MLB, Sports Illustrated (Sept. 22, 2022), https://www.si.com/mlb/2022/09/22/minor-league-baseball-union-daily-cover.
[19] Id.
[20] Cost of Graduate School, U.C. Davis, https://grad.ucdavis.edu/cost-graduate-school (last visited Feb. 3, 2023).
[21] Theresa Agovino, Unions Struggle to Hold On, SHRM (Mar. 14, 2020), https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/all-things-work/pages/unions-struggle-to-gain-a-toehold.aspx.
[22] Id.
[23] Unequal Power, Econ. Pol’y Inst., https://www.epi.org/unequalpower/home/ (last visited Feb. 3, 2023).
[24] Baccellieri, supra note 18.
[25] Bill Peters, The Unionization Wave Is Rising; Can It Survive a Recession?, Invs. Bus. Daily (Aug. 18, 2022, 5:33 PM), https://www.investors.com/news/unionization-wave-is-rising-but-can-it-survive-a-recession/.
[26] Jamieson, supra note 1.
[27] Associated Press, Judge: Minor League Baseball Players Are Employees, Not Apprentices, U.S. News & World Rep. (Mar. 16, 2022, 10:34 AM), https://www.usnews.com/news/sports/articles/2022-03-15/judge-minor-leaguers-work-year-round-mlb-violated-wage-law.
[28] Consolidated Amended Complaint for Federal and State Wage and Hours Laws, Senne v. Kansas City Royals Baseball Corp., 591 F. Supp. 3d 453, 594 (N.D. Cal., 2022) (filed Oct. 24, 2014); Richard Dahl, Judge: Minor Leaguers Work Year-Round, MLB Violated Wage Law, FindLaw (Mar. 22, 2022), https://www.findlaw.com/legalblogs/legally-weird/judge-minor-league-baseball-players-are-employees-not-apprentices/.
[29] Senne, 591 F. Supp. 3d at 594; Associated Press, supra note 27.
[30] Senne, 591 F. Supp. 3d at 595; Jeff Passan, MLB to Pay $185 Million in Settlement with Minor League Players Over Minimum-Wage and Overtime Allegations, ESPN (July 15, 2022), https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/34249632/mlb-pay-185-million-settlement-minor-league-players-minimum-wage-allegations.
[31] Passan, supra note 30.
[32] Nicole Acevedo & Courtney Brogle, MLB Settles Minor League Players’ Wage-and-hour Class Action Suit for $185 Million, NBC News (July 16, 2022, 11:01 AM), https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/mlb-settles-minor-league-players-wage-hour-class-action-suit-185-milli-rcna38554.
[33] Minor Leaguers Are Joining the MLBPA: Here’s What the Unionization Means, ESPN (Sept. 14, 2022), https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/34586802/minor-leaguers-joining-mlbpa-here-unionization-means.
[34] Baccellieri, supra note 18.
[35] Id.
[36] Associated Press, MLB to Pay Minor Leaguers $185 Million to Settle Lawsuit, USA Today (July 16, 2022, 11:38 AM), https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2022/07/15/mlb-paying-185-million-settle-lawsuit-minor-leaguer/10075255002/.
[37] Frequently Asked Questions About Union Representation for Graduate Student Researchers, U.C. Irvine (2023), https://grad.uci.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/GSR-FAQ.pdf.
[38] Id.
[39] Id.
[40] UAW 2865, https://uaw2865.org (last visited Feb. 3, 2023).
[41] Suhauna Hussain, UC Santa Cruz Fires 54 Graduate Student Workers Striking for Higher Pay, L.A. Times (Feb. 28, 2020, 8:47 PM), https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2020-02-28/uc-santa-cruz-fires-54-graduate-student-workers-wildcat-strike.
[42] Hussain, supra note 41.
[43] Mikhail Zinshteyn, Six Takeaways for Californians After the UC Graduate Student Worker Strike, Cal Matters (Jan. 6, 2023), https://calmatters.org/education/higher-education/2023/01/six-takeaways-for-californians-after-the-uc-graduate-student-worker-strike/.
[44] UC Office of the President, University of California Graduate Student Workers End Strike, Ratify Three-Year Contracts, Univ. of Cal. (Dec. 23, 2022), https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/press-room/university-california-graduate-student-workers-end-strike-ratify-three-year-contracts.
[45] Baccellieri, supra note 18.
[46] Id.