Baseball Stars Knock It Out of the Park for Employee Free Choice

[Omaha Steve]

http://blog.aflcio.org/2009/10/29/baseball-stars-knock-it-out-of-the-park-for-employee-free-choice/

by Seth Michaels, Oct 29, 2009

Just in time for the World Series, 12 members of the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) have added their names to the broad coalition in support of the Employee Free Choice Act.

The players have signed a statement and appeared in print ads in Washington, D.C., papers yesterday. World Series participants Jimmy Rollins, Shane Victorino and Mark Teixeira took part. They were joined by Heath Bell, Dave Bush, LaTroy Hawkins, Torii Hunter, John Lannan, Andrew Miller, J.J. Putz, Justin Verlander and Adam Wainwright.

In a joint statement, these players say:

All Americans should have the same opportunity we’ve had—to be able to join a union without being fired and to negotiate with their employers without being penalized. Today, our country is facing some tough times. Health care costs are skyrocketing. Families are losing homes. Savings and retirement income are disappearing overnight.

Now more than ever, we need a strong union movement to protect our jobs, our pensions, and our future. The Employee Free Choice Act simply guarantees a level playing field for all workers. It makes sure everyone plays by the same rules. That’s as important in the workplace as it is in baseball.

The serious point here is that the choice to have a union on the job and bargain for a better life matters to workers no matter the sector—whether it’s a bus driver, a journalist, a casino dealer or a major league baseball player. The ability to bargain along with your co-workers for fair wages, good benefits and safe working conditions is a fundamental freedom that means a stronger economy for everyone.

[wtbymark]

1. We could use a few high profile spokesmen for this legislation

good post

[Tansy_Gold]

2. I hate the Yankess but I love baseball. K&R

[abq e streeter]

3. I have just forgiven La Troy Hawkins for every blown save as a Cub

professional sports are not an area where I expect to see progressive viewpoints embraced. Good on all these guys.

[malaise]

4. Curt Flood would be proud of every one of them

The 40th anniversary of the beginning of his struggle with MLB over free agency was on October 7.

This is great news.

[annabanana]

5. am kick . . . . . n/t

[Blue_Tires]

6. kick for the local kid (Verlander!!)

[tmyers09]

7. VERLANDER!

[flyarm]

8. The day the World Series Opened this week Marvin Miller's wife Terry died.

A wonderful lady who was also so pivitol within MLBPA and helping the players unite and stay strong through so much adversity in the early days if the MLBPA union.

She will be missed..by so many who in the youth of MLBPA was so supportive of the players and their wives, and families. She was an extremely intelligent woman, with the heart of a saint!

I loved this woman, her kindness and her spirit and her incredible mind!

She was a woman I looked up to in so many ways in my youth and right through today!

I will miss her and always love her!

And to Marvin, the strongest , smartest , Gentle man I have ever known, I am so sorry for your loss of your life partner. You were the perfect couple, you complemented each other in the most wonderful ways.
You were Mother and father to many of us in our youth!


** and for those that want this legislation ( as we all should) ..if you want it , You can have it..but are you willing to fight for it?? For fight is what is many times nessesary to get a union and build a union and fight those who would love to keep you down and not allow you to have a union and livable wages and working conditions! That includes your government!

http://bizofbaseball.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3689:terry-miller-wife-of-former-mlbpa-exec-dir-marvin-miller-passes-away-at-90&catid=30:mlb-news&Itemid=42

Members and staff of the Major League Baseball Players Association were saddened to learn of the passing of Terry Miller, the wife of founding Executive Director Marvin Miller, on Tuesday, October 27. She was 90.

Terry Morganstern Miller was an accomplished academic who earned a Ph.D. in psychology at the University of Pittsburgh and worked as a clinical psychologist. When the couple moved back to New York, she returned to academics and was an associate professor at the City University of New York when she retired in 1980.

Marvin Miller met Terry in 1936, when she was a 17-year-old Brooklyn College student and they married three years later. In his book, A Whole Different Ballgame, Marvin described Terry as a woman who “personified femininity and strength.” They would have celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary on Dec. 24.

In addition to Marvin Miller, Terry Miller is survived by their daughter, Susan, and their son, Peter, who lives in Kamakura, Japan with his wife, Yuko, and their son, Neil.

“Our thoughts today are with Marvin and his family,” MLBPA Executive Director Donald M. Fehr said. “We fondly recall the many moments, both significant and small, we shared with Terry as well as the warmth, support and well-informed counsel she often provided. We will miss her presence.”

Remembrances can be sent to: Marvin Miller, c/o Donald M. Fehr, executive director, MLBPA, 12 E. 49th St., New York, N.Y. 10017.

The Business of Sports Network passes along their deepest condolences to the Miller family, and those at the MLBPA mourning Ms. Miller's passing.