As You Watch Tonight’s MLB All-Star Game, Remember These Three Baseball Labor Struggles
Tonight is Major League Baseball's All-Star Game. You probably won’t hear it on the broadcast, but there’s labor unrest brewing involving minor-league players, concession workers, and Bernie Sanders — and the target is baseball’s oligarchic business model.
The Nationals’ Juan Soto wins the Home Run Derby at Dodger Stadium on July 18, 2022, Los Angeles, California. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Tonight, Major League Baseball (MLB) will hold its ninety-second All-Star Game, with the National and American League teams competing against one another at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
This year has already produced several interesting baseball labor stories, but they probably won’t get mentioned during the broadcast. Here are three to think about while you tune into the game:
1. Dodger Stadium concession workers almost went on strike.
A little over a week before the All-Star Game, 99 percent of the food and beverage workers at Dodgers Stadium voted to authorize a strike. Almost 1,500 people work in the concession stands, and they’re represented by UNITE HERE Local 11. “They are the backbone of our tourism and sports industry, yet many struggle to stay housed and to make ends meet,” union copresident Susan Minato told Sports Illustrated. “They often live with economic uncertainty because the quality of jobs vary stadium to stadium. No worker should have to continue living like this.”
This article is for subscribers only. Please login or subscribe to access our full archives and beautiful print and digital magazine starting at just $3 a month.