The Major League Baseball Players Association plans to join the AFL-CIO labor federation, putting one of professional sports’ top unions in a formal alliance with other labor groups.
Tony Clark, the former switch-hitting first baseman who is now the union’s director, announced the new affiliation in downtown Washington on Wednesday. He was joined by Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO, which includes 57 other unions representing more than 12 million workers.
Clark said the pandemic-shortened 2020 season and the lockout that preceded the current season prompted the union to think about its own place in the labor movement.
“The truth is we reflected on where our organization was and the things we could potentially do moving forward as part of the broader labor discussion,” Clark said.
The AFL-CIO functions as a powerful lobby for organized labor in Washington, looking out for the interests of its member unions legislatively, and acts as a bridge between unions operating in different industries. The federation was formed in 1955 in a marriage between the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations.
The MLBPA represents around 1,200 baseball players, many of whom make a lot of money. By joining the AFL-CIO, the union will be affiliated with many working-class unions, including Unite Here, which represents thousands of concessions workers at baseball stadiums around the country.
This story will be updated.
