Arizona lawmakers are considering a bill to exempt Major League Baseball from having to pay minor leaguers the state’s minimum wage.
By Jason Barry
PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) — For years, MLB has avoided paying minor league players a specific hourly wage and it doesn’t want to start now. Tyler Watson spent eight years pitching in the minor leagues, so he knows firsthand the challenges a lot of minor leaguers face, making barely enough money to get by. “If you can’t have a host family, it’s definitely hard because you get people living on air mattresses in a one-bedroom apartment with four other guys,” said Watson.
Last year, Major League Baseball approved a new collective bargaining with minor league players. Minor leaguers got an increase in pay, subsidized housing, health care and retirement benefits. But many believe these ballplayers are still getting shortchanged.
Arizona lawmakers are currently considering HB 2197, which would exempt minor league baseball players from the state’s minimum wage, which is now $14.25 an hour. MLB claims that minor leaguers are different from other workers because much of their time exercising, training, and watching videos isn’t tracked on an hourly basis.
Hugo Polanco doesn’t see it that way. Polanco is a government liaison with the grassroots group LUCHA, which helped pass Prop 206 in 2016, raising Arizona’s minimum wage. He says the voter-approved Prop 206 was meant to protect all Arizona workers and not make exceptions for a multi-billion dollar business like MLB. “This is a way of devaluing Arizonan’s minimum wage that Arizonans passed, and this would send a signal to other corporations, ‘Hey, you can come to Arizona and get an exception and not have to pay workers, Arizonans what they deserve,’” said Polanco.
According to Polanco, lawmakers would need a supermajority to make any changes or amendments to Prop 206. Some legislators worry if they don’t take action, it could impact the Cactus League, which generates more than $400 million for Arizona’s economy each year.
Link to original article: https://www.azfamily.com/2024/01/20/mlb-asks-arizona-lawmakers-exempt-minor-league-players-states-minimum-wage/
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