Another
article on the subject, a fairly extensive one from the Toronto Star newspaper.
I didn't realize that minor league hockey players have been represented by a union (the Professional Hockey Players' Association, which is separate and apart from the NHLPA) since the late 1960s. Consequently, American Hockey League players are paid rather well with an average salary north of 80K (the AHL is the AAA equivalent in hockey).
Here's the
transcript of the lawsuit itself. Some things I found interesting reading through it (from a layman's perspective--definitely am interested in the opinions of the many lawyers on the board particularly those who practice in the area of labor law):
- The complaint says minor leaguers are NOT paid while in pre-spring training minicamp, spring training, extended spring training or while in instructional league. Wow!
- In order for the lawsuit to be as broad as possible, plaintiffs were former minor leaguers from all 30 teams--thus former Astros property Jon Gaston as one of the plaintiffs. The complaint mentions Gaston "believes he was paid less than $3,000 in salary his first season, and he believes he never earned more than $8,000 in salary during subsequent seasons." Not mentioned in the complaint is the $150,000 Gaston received as a signing bonus. Not sure why the lawyers driving the class action lawsuit wouldn't have picked a player more sympathetic to their cause (i.e., one of the many players who receive relatively little in signing bonuses).
- The complaint states that the uniform player contract has a provision stating "Club may require Player to maintain Player’s playing condition and weight during the off-season and to report for practice and condition at such times and places as Club may determine” and if there is a failure to meet such requirements the “Club may impose a reasonable fine upon Player….” MLB may try (actually, already has) to assert that they're exempt from fair pay laws due to the seasonal worker exception--this may be the plaintiffs counter-argument to that assertion (they can't be seasonal workers if you're requiring them to work out and be monitored by the team throughout the calendar year).
- Complaint states that "teams also sign additional players from the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico who were not drafted in the Rule 4 draft. MLB rules place limits on when such free agent acquisitions can occur. Since they were not selected in the draft, they are viewed as less skilled amateur players and, even as free agents, have no bargaining power." Horseshit. Ruben Alaniz certainly didn't lack "bargaining power" when he signed for $160K as an undrafted high-schooler.
- If you're interested in what the Uniform Player Contract for minor leaguers looks like, it's attached to the complaint and starts on p. 285. On p. 289, the UPC specifically states "This Minor League Uniform Player Contract (UPC) obligates Player to perform professional services on a calendar year basis". Again a non-lawyer here but it does make me laugh a bit to think MLB has already asserted the seasonal worker exception in its initial response to the lawsuit when the contract it drafted talks about services having to be provided on a "calendar year basis".
