AMLU rejects proposal

[your boss]

yep, it is true.

[LMan]

The plot thickens!

[MrB]

Originally Posted by your boss

yep, it is true.

What you didn't believe me?

[DIV2ump]

Originally Posted by your boss

yep, it is true.

So let me get this straight. AMLU leadership has marathon negotiating sessions with management and finally strikes a deal which they unanimously recommend to the membership for ratification. The membership then votes it down anyway.

Sounds like the AMLU leadership has lost control of the situation. That's what happens when you promise too much.

[Thump]

The union board recommended it because they were forced to. Legally, if they were going to bring a deal back with the federal mediator there, they had to bring it back with a yes recommendation.

They had two options:

1. Walk out of negotiations with no deal for it's members to vote on.

2. Walk out of negotiations recommending a "yes vote" to a crappy deal.

They let the memebership decide...and it did. Good move on their part. How would it have looked if they had just walked away from the table, and the members had no say.

Remember...this deal was WORSE then the previous deal offered by Minor League Baseball. Why in the world would umpires go on strike to obtain a worse deal. It's not like the umpires just rejected a fair contract. This one was still just as unfair as the ones in the past...if not more so.

[GarthB]

Originally Posted by Thump

The union board recommended it because they were forced to.

Maybe. But if that's true how does one explain the enthusiasm of the union slimeball, I mean attorney:

"Our committee is pleased that the mediation process we proposed has resulted in a deal that will get our membership back on the field where they belong." ...union attorney Robert Weaver

At least he's getting paid this summer.

[LakeErieUmp]

He also isn't getting crap from players, coaches, managers, fans, and front offices.
p.s. - I can say this. I'm an attorney.

[GarthB]

Originally Posted by LakeErieUmp

He also isn't getting crap from players, coaches, managers, fans, and front offices.
p.s. - I can say this. I'm an attorney.

But now that 2/3rds of the membership voted down the result of his efforts, he may have to start dealing with crap from umpires.

[MrB]

DIV2ump,

It is my understanding that the negotiation team had to recommend the deal for ratification so the group could vote on it. The team didn't like a deal that gave $2 extra per diem instead of $1, but they had to put it forth to the group as part of the federal mediation.

[Thump]

Minor League Baseball is STUPID to think that the umpires would accept this deal.

The union must be strong...because if it wasn't, then they would have accepted this crappy deal. But instead, they reject it...and NOT ONE AMLU UMPIRE has stepped foot on a Minor League field this year. NOT ONE! That's strength.

[LMan]

I would say that the fact that MiLB felt confident in offering a poorer deal now, 2 months into the replacement-ump season, than it did previously shows some strength as well. Or foolhardiness, as the case may be.....the analogy to "Deal or No Deal" was a great one: the "banker's" offers to walk away from the buzzer are going down, not up.

I guess the replacement game will continue for a while. My question is, upon the end of the collegiate season soon, how many NCAA umpires will cross the picket line? Is this a significant threat?

[MrB]

Originally Posted by LMan

I would say that the fact that MiLB felt confident in offering a poorer deal now, 2 months into the replacement-ump season, than it did previously shows some strength as well. Or foolhardiness, as the case may be.....the analogy to "Deal or No Deal" was a great one: the "banker's" offers to walk away from the buzzer are going down, not up.

I guess the replacement game will continue for a while. My question is, upon the end of the collegiate season soon, how many NCAA umpires will cross the picket line?

Some seem to think that at the end of the NCAA season, there won't be a line to cross. The guys will be done.

[MrB]

Originally Posted by Thump

Minor League Baseball is STUPID to think that the umpires would accept this deal.

The union must be strong...because if it wasn't, then they would have accepted this crappy deal. But instead, they reject it...and NOT ONE AMLU UMPIRE has stepped foot on a Minor League field this year. NOT ONE! That's strength.

I agree that they are strong and they did the right thing, but how are they going to get back on the field when baseball just doesn't care about the quailty of umpiring?

[BigUmp56]

Originally Posted by MrB

I agree that they are strong and they did the right thing, but how are they going to get back on the field when baseball just doesn't care about the quailty of umpiring?

I wonder how long MiLB will be willing to pay more money for less qualified umpires to work games. It seems to me like they're willing, for now, to pay whatever it takes to break the union. In time, if they do break the union, and the PBUC restructures, will the fill-in umpires be willing to work for less than what they have been getting?


Tim.

[mbyron]

Originally Posted by MrB

I agree that they are strong and they did the right thing, but how are they going to get back on the field when baseball just doesn't care about the quailty of umpiring?

I disagree. Baseball does care about the quality of umpiring. Who is "baseball?" The managers and players care a good deal (though they care about many other things more). The owners care quite a bit less, and much less than they care about player development (which they owe to the big league clubs) and their own bottom line (which is not huge in MiLB).

The money in MLB does not trickle down to MiLB as much as it might. Think of it this way: the average MLB umpire makes maybe 10-20% (depending on experience) of the average MLB player salary. If the MiLB umps made a comparable percentage of the average MiLB player salary, how much would they make?