MLB teams stepping up to help ballpark workers
The Milwaukee Brewers joined the other 29 major-league clubs Tuesday in pledging $1 million each as the first step toward assisting ballpark employees affected by the delay to the start of the MLB season due to the coronavirus national health emergency.
"I am proud that our clubs came together so quickly and uniformly to support these individuals who provide so much to the game we love," MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said of the financial commitment.
MLB announced on Monday that it would follow the CDC guidelines recommending no gatherings of more than 50 people for at least eight weeks, meaning the start of the regular season would be delayed until at least mid-May. With most players leaving the spring training camps after a ban was placed on organized workouts, many believe the start of the season will be delayed much longer.
Beyond the players, that leaves workers at all of the ballparks without work until games are played. The $1 million commitment from each team will begin to address that situation.
"We are pleased to be part of that commitment from the majorleague teams," Brewers senior vice president Tyler Barnes said. "The specifics of that commitment will be worked out over time."
What Barnes did not have to say is how incredibly complicated it will be to try to help all of the parttime and hourly employees affected by the delay to the season. Many of those who work at Miller Park during Brewers games are employees of subcontractors, such as concessions and security. Whether those subcontractors provide financial help is up to them.
MLB and the players association have been holding ongoing talks to determine what will happen with the pay and service time of major leaguers, who usually do not draw salaries until the regular season begins.
And that doesn't even include minor leaguers who are not members of the union and also do not get paid until they start playing games.
In a Sunday conference call with members of the media, Brewers president of baseball operations David Stearns noted the complexity of working out solutions for the hundreds of people affected by baseball's shutdown.
“That's something that everyone is working through right now,” Stearns said. “They are working through what this means, from those standpoints. We haven't seen this before, so this is new. I think everyone is doing their best to try to find solutions.
“We're having a wide variety of conversations on those topics. On employees, including minorleague players, who traditionally have not been paid until games get going. That includes part-time employees, hourly employees, minorleague players. We've got a host of them.
“Those are conversations that are going to be ongoing. We understand this is a crisis that is affecting large segments of our community, both inside and outside of our organization. We're going to do everything we can to be sensitive to that.”