Garrett Broshuis is not the first to try to unionize minor leagues

George Earl Toolson / Yesnetwork.com

Former minor leaguer turned lawyer Garrett Broshuis is currently fighting for the unionization of Minor League Baseball; however minor leaguers have fought for better pay since as early as the 1920s.

Broshius is leading a lawsuit against Major League Baseball calling for a minor league baseball players union. Minor leaguers average substantially less than minimum wage for the amount of time they dedicate to their work. A minor league player starts with an average salary of $1,100 per month, but they put in about 60 hours of work per week, equating to a salary of less than the $7.25 federal minimum wage. Both Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball are protected under the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, which means minor leaguers do not have to be paid the legal minimum wage.

The Supreme Court of the United States decided that Major League Baseball was exempt from the Sherman Anti-Trust Act from the case of Federal Baseball Club of Baltimore, Inc. v. National League of Professional Baseball Clubs et. al. The case was argued on April 19, 1922 and decided on May 29 of the same year. Justice Holmes delivered the opinion of the court.

“The business is giving exhibitions of baseball, which are purely state affairs.” he said “It is true that, in order to attain for these exhibitions the great popularity that they have achieved, competitions must be arranged between clubs from different cities and states. But the fact that, in order to give the exhibitions, the Leagues must induce free persons to cross state lines and must arrange and pay for their doing so is not enough to change the character of the business.”

An example of minor leaguers fighting against MLB's exemption from the Anti-Trust Act is the Boise Baseball Club of 1975. The club managed farm teams for the Oakland A’s in the Northwestern area of the United States. Boise went out of business in 1976 due to the A’s interference with sales of player development contracts. After Boise's demise from managing Oakland's farm teams, Boise took court action and blamed Major League Baseball for Oakland cutting them off. They fought to abolish MLB’s exemption from the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, but the court refused to re examine the 1922 case that allowed MLB to be exempt from the act and gave no reason to why they refused this notion.

Many players have tried to fight against Major League Baseball’s unfair treatment of minor league players, perhaps most notably George Earl Toolson. Toolson was a member of the New York Yankees Triple A Farm Club Newark Bears. In 1953, Toolson sued the New York Yankees to challenge the reserve clause, which prevented Toolson from being traded and getting a chance to pitch in the the major leagues. The court decided in favor of the Yankees, which kept baseball excluded from the Sherman Anti-Trust Act.

Although Broshuis is not the first to try and represent the minor leaguers, he may have the greatest chance to succeed. He now has 43 former minor leaguers supporting his suit and is in a strong position to complete this David versus Goliath case against Major League Baseball.

Written by: Harry Smith and Michael Stern

Minor leaguers reluctant to unionize

Minor league baseball logo - milb.com

Minor leaguers historically have been hesitant to unionize for fear of having their childhood dream of playing in the major leagues taken away. Garrett Broshuis and several former minor league players filed a 2017 lawsuit against Major League Baseball over wage disputes. This case could possibly be resolved in the establishment of a minor league union, but the risk of giving a voice to the cause is stopping current minor leaguers from joining the conversation.

“Every single player you talk to, even if they realize [a union] would be a good thing, is also scared to death to talk to another player about it,” Broshuis said in a 2012 slate.com article. “This is your dream you’re talking about.”

Minor league players currently have a starting salary of between $1,100 and $2,150 per month. A minor leaguer works anywhere between 50 to 70 hours per week. The pay for some players comes out to $4 per hour. In 2012, teams saved an average of $860,000 due to tighter restrictions placed on money spent on draft picks. According to Broshuis, this money could double the salaries of players in Double-A and below.

"The average baseball fan knows that minor leaguers aren't getting rich," Broshuis said in a 2014 motherjones.com article. "But I think the average baseball fan is shocked to know what the salaries actually are."

Broshuis was chosen in the fifth round of the 2004 draft as a pitcher by the San Francisco Giants. He played six minor league seasons and went as far as Triple-A.

He pursued law in hopes of enacting change in the minor league system after retiring from baseball. Broshuis filed Senne v. MLB for violating the Fair Labor Standards Act. He claims MLB paid minor leaguers less than minimum wage and violated local labor laws.

“Minor leaguers aren't represented by the Major League union, and without a collective voice, there hasn't been anyone to stand up for them at all,” Broshuis told USA Today Sports in 2015. “It’s a perfect recipe for exploitation.”

The outcome of Broshuis's lawsuit will change the game for minor league baseball players by expanding their possibilities. If he is successful in creating a minor league union, it could mean a possible long-term life in the minor leagues. If the lawsuit doesn't pass, minor leaguers will continue to live under poor conditions until a possible entrance into the major leagues.

“[A] minor league union would be terrific,” said Broshuis in a 2015 interview with HSMSE Sports. “Ultimately, that would be ideal. At least, they need to start paying them for spring training.”

Written by Velid Mulic and Mohammed Kabir

Garrett Broshuis, former minor league pitcher turned lawyer sues MLB

Out of all the minor leagues in professional sports, minor league baseball players suffer from arguably the worst living conditions. Their salaries are well below poverty level, which results in poor housing conditions and also leads to large amounts of debt. A former minor leaguer turned lawyer, Garrett Broshuis has experienced these conditions first-hand and has decided to try to improve minor leaguers’ salaries and working conditions by filing a lawsuit against the MLB for violation of Fair Labor Standards Act. Broshuis became a lawyer to defend minor league players after his baseball career ended.

Their wages are relatively minuscule when compared to their MLB counterparts. The average salary of a minor leaguer is $1,100 a month for a three-month season, which is well below the federal poverty level. In comparison, the minimum salary of a major leaguer is $500,000 per season.

“While big league salaries have risen by more than 2,000 percent since 1976, minor league salaries have increased by just 75 percent during that time,” Ted Berg said in a 2014 USA Today article. “When taking into account inflation, minor leaguers actually earn less than they did in 1976.”

With such minimal wages, minor league players can't afford sufficient housing.

“Some players shared tiny apartments with each other,” recalled Dirk Hayhurst in a 2014 Bleacher report article.

The shelter they had was not always the safest either; stories of structural damage and mold were common.

“I slept on an air mattress on the living room floor of a two-bedroom Portland apartment because I had the least service time of the three players who were living there,” Broshuis said in the Bleacher report article. “One of us slept on a sleeping bag on the floor.”

Garrett Broshuis / Korein Tillery 

Broshuis was a standout baseball player at the University of Missouri, earning a nomination for the 2004 Student-Athlete of the Year. He finished his 2004 season with a perfect 11-0 record. The San Francisco Giants selected Broshuis in the fifth round of the 2004 MLB draft playing six years in the minor leagues. He finished second in wins for the AA Eastern League in 2008.

Broshuis represents dozens of former minor league players in a wage and hour lawsuit challenging the salaries of minor leaguers. In March 2013, he filed a lawsuit against MLB claiming that they were in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act for continuously paying minor leaguers less than minimum wage and not paying them for overtime. Broshuis explained his decision to become a lawyer recently in an interview with the HSMSE Sports Journalism class.

“I thought I was going to be a major in physiology.” Broshuis said. “I figured out I didn't want to sit in a lab all day.”

By filing the lawsuit, he hopes to raise awareness for the poor conditions of minor league players.

“A minor league union would be terrific," Broshuis said, "at the least they need to pay for spring training. Salaries for amnesties need to be increased as well.”


Written by: Junior Flores and Muhammad Abid Hasan

Coaches and administrators opinions on football union

On January 28, 2014 the College Athletics Players Association petitioned that the players on athletic scholarships at Northwestern University are employees of the university. If the claim that the students are employees is supported, the players can unionize. This will allow the players to manipulate the hours they practice reducing the coaches control over the player's schedule.

Northwestern football coach Pat Fitzgerald does not support the unionization of his football players. He believes that this will have a negative result on the realationship the university has developed with the players. He urges his players to vote against the union. He does not see the need for others to intervene with the relationship the players have with the university because the university will provide everything the players need.

“I just do not believe we need a third party between our players and our coaches, staff and administrators. ... Whatever they need, we will get them,” Fitzgerald said in a 2014 Huffington Post article.

Stanford football coach David Shaw also questions the need of a player union in college football.

“I think Northwestern does a phenomenal job providing for their kids, and it's weird to try to unionize but still compliment Northwestern and compliment their coaching staff on being taken care of. Those things don't seem to go hand in hand," Shaw said in a 2014 ESPN article.

The Ohio Valley Conference Commissioner Beth DeBauche participated in a conference discussing the commercialisation of college sports on Tuesday, April 15, 2014. She participated in this conference to give her input on how the NCAA business plan may change to give student athletes what they think they deserve. The student athletes believe they deserve a portion of the large revenue the NCAA receives.

"The landscape as we know it for Division I is going to certainly change in some form or fashion," DeBauche said in a 2014 Associated Press article.

DeBauche admits there must be a change in the format of the business plan in the NCAA. She sees this situation to change the business plan of the NCAA into a positive direction. Many administrative influences on the NCAA like the Big Ten do not see a need for change.

"I have a really hard time envisioning what it would be," Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany said in a 2014 Chicago Business article.

The opinions on unionization of these two coaches and administrators are mostly negative. They believe this idea of a union will conflict with the university’s preparation of the players and it will not fit into the business plan set by the NCAA.

How will college football change if Jeffrey Kessler's antitrust lawsuit succeeds?

Northwestern’s effort to unionize college football players will cause major changes to college football should it succeed. Unionizing will result in the scholarship players becoming employees and will cause financial issues to arise for the NCAA and colleges associated with it.

Many of the changes to college football will stem from the financial issues associated with the new employee status of the players. With the hundreds of football players in the NCAA, there will be a lot of extra money being spent if they become employees; however, it is still unclear how these financial issues will impact college football for the NCAA.

If student-athletes become employees, then the schools will have to pay extra expenses for them. These schools that are going to maintain Division I football teams are going to have to pay 20% in excess of the student’s tuition because of health care, pensions, disability insurance, and unemployment insurance. This is going to lead to a decrease in the amount of money that can be spent to maintain football teams across all divisions in the NCAA.

For the student-athletes, the status change from player to employee will also have its own effects. Colleges can offer its own financial backing plan for each athlete and players can choose which plan is best for them. As a result of that, colleges that have more of a financial backbone can pay for better players than those that do not.

“If you're USC or even Rice, you could say to a recruit, 'I know you're talking to these other two schools, but if you come here we'll pay your medical insurance for five years, plus you can collectively bargain for other things you want, plus if you graduate early you'll get extra dough in a trust fund, and perhaps you can capitalize off marketing value if you become our star quarterback,'” SMU athletic director, Rick Hart, said in a 2014 CbsSports.com article.

Taxes are also another problem that has to be considered. An athlete receives a scholarship to play for a team and study at school as a student. If they are going be employees of the school, the scholarship and wages that they will receive is taxable by the IRS. It would make it increasingly difficult for college football players to pay for and attend college because of the taxes they will be responsible for on both accounts.

"The fact that the players were not considered employees in the past is essentially the reason why their scholarship or parts of it weren't taxed before,” Garret Higgins, a partner of the Exempt Organization Tax and Advisory Services group, said in an ESPN article. ”The IRS may be able to make the argument that the scholarship is really payment for services, and therefore compensation, and is now taxable to the athlete.” 

Financial issues are only part of the reason as to why the changes are coming to college football in the NCAA, but its impact is going to be felt immediately. Smaller universities may not be able to pay as much as larger ones, widening the skill difference across Division 1 athletics. Some student-athletes may find it harder to attend college because of the taxes they are required to pay.  If this lawsuit passes, the NCAA will find their profits cut by a large margin if they want to continue college athletics.

Written by Allan Lee and Sean Santiago