And That's When the Big Bucks Start Rolling In
Moving from clean up to washing lettuce
Louie Anderson’s most iconic line from “Coming to America” is a succinct description of the con that professional baseball players in North America face, NWSL players are on the precipice, an Iowa representative makes a move, huge news in women’s ice hockey, and if you absolutely have to work with a white guy…
As I should have expected, the week I miss publishing a newsletter due to the passing of my father-in-law becomes one of the busiest for news pertaining to labor for professional athletes in North America. I’m happy to report that not all of it is bad news, however! Some of it is at least neutral if not, you know, good!
In the aspect of this niche that gets the most coverage, MLB and the MLBPA met and MLB finally made a proposal weeks after owners locked out the players. As anyone with any sense of MLB should expect, it was essentially a “hey, we like the way things are right now, so can we just continue?” non-starter. A counter-proposal from the PA should come any day now.
With the sad passing of Anderson (more on that to come), I watched “Coming to America” as it’s my favorite film appearance he made. The most well-known line of his from the movie is so timely for professional baseball players right now.
In case you don’t want to watch his performance, the line is:
You know, I started on clean up just like you guys. But now, see, I’m washing lettuce. Soon, I’ll be on fries! Then, the grill. A year or two, I’ll make assistant manager, and that’s when the big bucks start rolling in.
It isn’t a perfect analogy, as the career arc for professional baseball players isn’t so intricate or promising. They start out doing the work of the assistant manager while still getting the clean-up pay for years. It also takes them more than a year or two to see the big bucks and many of them never see it despite actually producing it.
That cleanup duty for these athletic workers starts in the minor leagues, where unionization has always been essential to improvement but thus far elusive. Scott Heric, the co-founder of union organization software company Unionly, shared some thoughts with me about that subject.
What I found most intriguing about the comments Heric made was his response to fans who don’t see the struggles of athletic workers as similar to their own because they’re “paid to play a game” and/or “if they’re good enough they’ll have a chance to make big money later.”
“Taking that stance opens the door to saying that no one should be paid to do any job,” Heric stated. “It’s a very slippery slope that I recommend avoiding at all costs. That same argument could, in theory, be made about any career. Therefore, no one should be making it about any job.”
As MLB is now not only the sole governing body for major-league but now also affiliated minor-league baseball, the time has never been better to unionize the minor leagues. Heric commented on the benefits of that situation.
“All individuals within a governing body should be subject to the same benefits,” Heric said. “Revenue being shared across all levels of a franchise could help address the transitory nature of [minor-league] players’ [work]. As part of a union, standard salaries and living conditions could be set, which could then be funded by revenue shared throughout the franchises.”
As we wait to see the PA’s counter and MLB’s reaction, here’s to hoping that either the PA will expand to include the minor leagues or the minor leagues will form their own union soon. Another PA is ready to take a major labor action as well.
NWSLPA issues deadline, threatens strike
On Thursday, Meg Linehan broke the news that with under two weeks left until the commencement of the league’s 2022 training camp, the workers and club owners still have not finalized the league’s first collective bargaining agreement. Feb. 1 is the first day that clubs can begin organized activities under league rules.
The bigger part of that story might be how NWSLPA members have committed to a strike should Feb. 1 come without a contract in place. There is no confirmed, or really unconfirmed, reporting about how close to a deal the two sides are. For that reason, a strike of some magnitude feels quite possible.
It isn’t clear exactly how many players who hold a current contract with an NWSL club to be on the pitch playing are NWSLPA members. Thus, it’s also difficult to ascertain what percentage of the labor force won’t show a week from tomorrow if there’s no deal. What is clear at this point, however, is that owners have another week to try to avoid what would be just the latest poor showing from them in a nearly-unbroken series of failures stringing back years.
Another group of mostly women athletic workers has a bit to celebrate right now. In some ways, it’s a great precedent for owners of other professional sports entertainment corporations.
PHF governors give equity to workers
There are “don’t let perfect get in the way of good” moments in labor struggles. Last Monday was one such moment for players in the Premier Hockey Federation.
That was when the league’s board of governors announced new standards. For certain, they are getting benefits for themselves. The league will expand to a 28-game regular-season schedule and two more teams in the near future (Montreal and a so-far unnamed US city).
At the same time, the team salary cap is more than doubling to $750,000. Workers on the ice are also getting full healthcare benefits, updated facilities, new equipment, increased ice time, and full control over their likenesses for marketing opportunities. The biggest win, though, is a 10% stake in the league handed over to the players as a collective.
That 10% is a far cry from the 100% it should be and with a roster maximum of 25, $30,000 for each player is still not a living wage. These are all positive steps, though. If the US expansion comes to Chicago, I’ll be gleeful. Something that also made me surprisingly full of glee came out of my native state.
Iowa representative makes a bold move
Bruce Hunter, who is the man for the 34th district of Iowa in the state’s House of Representatives, got himself some publicity last week by introducing a short but sweet bill for the current session.
HF2055 would insert into the Iowa code a provision that clearly defines campus athletic workers at the state’s public colleges and universities as employees of those institutions under the auspices of the state’s board of regents, just like every other person who performs labor on those campuses. The bill would not affect the status of athletic workers at private colleges and universities in the state. Thus, this would affect players at Iowa but not Drake, for example.
Having watched Iowa from across the river with some interest as a good part of my family still resides there and it’s where I grew up, I will be shocked if this bill sees any light of day as is. I don’t expect it to proceed out of committee in its current form. If it does make the full floor for debate, I assume it would only do so in a heavily modified form. This is a state that has recently restricted voter access and banned the teaching of history.
Still, the fact that this bill has been introduced in the legislature of a state that has both a Big 12 and Big Ten institution, which are the biggest sports entertainment properties in the state, within its borders is significant. It’s also a signal that the time for campus athletic workers to employ their agency and take charge of reforming their workplaces is now before someone else makes those decisions for them.
If this bill does proceed, further analysis will happen here. Until such a time, I’m treating it as another sign that public sentiment is continually turning against the college athletics industries’ exploitative cartel. When white guys in Republican-controlled legislatures of states where college sports are the biggest and only show are no longer on your side, things are not looking good for you. Speaking of white guys…
Anderson’s casting was a concession
If not for the producers at Paramount, Louie Anderson probably wouldn’t have had a role in “Coming to America.” Nardine Saad’s Los Angeles Times story reveals how Paramount forced Eddie Murphy to cast one white person in the film and Anderson became that person due to his decision to discreetly buy Murphy lunch one day.
Anderson’s career path was much more diverse than his role as Maurice in both of the “Coming to America” films, though. Through stand-up, a somewhat biopic animated series “Life with Louie” that ran for five seasons, a stint on “Saturday Night Live,” four seasons hosting Family Feud, and his most recent acclaimed role as Christine Baskets in the FX series “Baskets,” Anderson’s decades of work at his craft is sure to be cherished for generations.
Perhaps the best tribute to Anderson’s character is that when denied his desire to produce a film with only Black actors, Murphy cast Anderson without even an audition.