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Originally Posted by DIV2ump
Huh?
They can strike away. I don't know if its a good decision or not. The proof is in the pudding and we can't tell until this is over.
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I disagree. There are those of us who defend the MiLB umpires and support their demands who also believe they were not represented wll by their leaders in the AMLU. Much of what has developed was predictable and predicted.
The AMLU is not like the miners union, whose own members,for the most part are not fans of their jobs. There are not lines of replacements waiting to work the mines during their strikes, thus the union wins the "numbers" game with management. The AMLU is comprised of members, who, for the most part, love their jobs and there is a pool of replacements larger than the number of openings. Thus the AMLU loses the numbers game.
Again, using the miners as our example, most, as a result of their location and socio-economic status, truly believe they have no option but to work the mines. This status has been accepted by the media and translates into widespread sympathetic coverage and requires more diplomatic handling by management. MiLB umpires, perhaps more than any other trade in the country, ply their trade by choice, many having given up other, more profitable opportunities. While we umpires admire this, it is not seen as a position of strength by the media, management or fans. Simply put, most AMLU members and their families would be better off if they did not umpire baseball. Again, this is not a position of strength.
As they indicated they would, management has done a good job of positioning the umpires as, at best, part-time employees and even "apprentices". Even the mediator was swayed in part by this argument.
Instead of approaching amateur umpires with a campaign of what the "right thing to do" is and why, the AMLU adopted heavy handed, teamster-like tactics of intimidation, harassment, ridicule and in at least one case, outright lying.
When the strike ends, no matter how both sides claim victory, and they both will, one truth will be that the MiLB umpires will never, in their MiLB career, recoup the money they have lost during the strike.
If, as some AMLU leaders contend, the strike was more for future umpires than the present umpires, incremental changes beginning at the A level could have been negotiated that would have spread to the upper levels as those umpires progressed through the system.
MiLB umpires deserve more money. MiLB umpires deserve better benefits. MiLB umpires deserve more respect and protection. Most importantly, however, MiLB umpires deserve better union leadership.