Baseball Union

[progressiveman1]

First, I should establish that I think a union in Major League Baseball is necessary. Unlike most business markets, MLB is pretty much a monopoly, and throughout history prior to the union the owners of the ballclubs have treated the players unfairly just because they knew the players had nowhere else to go to make money with baseball. It wasn't until the MLBPA formed in 1966 that eliminated certain unfair rules and treatment such as the reserve clause, collusion, and lack of benefits(no payment for medical bills or for pension).

Now that I briefly covered that, and feel free to comment on any of it, that I can now get to my question. In 1996, the MLBPA- baseball union- created an orginization called the Players Trust, which, as stated on the MLBPA's website, "helps support the players' individual charitable activities and augments them with a core group of community outreach programs"... "is funded through contributions from all MLBPA members, a percentage of licensing revenue and special events."

What does that program have to do with a union? A union, even acknowledged by the MLBPA, is a collective bargaining agent- essentially, it is to ensure fair treatment from their bosses. The Players Trust seems to contradict the purpose of the union and forces other members, even ones who aren't involved whatsoever with charities, to lose money. It seems to me that the MLBPA is stepping over its boundary on this one.

[progressiveman1]

Since there are no replies, I will take that to mean there are no disagreements with anything that I said.