On page 1,967 of the 2,200
page GOP spending bill, there is a new law that exempts minor league baseball
players from the federal minimum wage law. When President Trump signed the bill
yesterday (which he protested), this became law.
This means that minor
league baseball teams no longer owe players a minimum wage. Instead of a minimum
hourly wage rate, they’ll get a standard amount of $1,160 per month—about $13,920,
if the figure were annualized (but it will work out to about half that amount
because this work is seasonal).
A lawsuit filed in
2015 in behalf of minor-leaguers alleges that players work 60-70 hours per
week, including playing six games a week, practice, workouts, and travel time.
No one is claiming “credit”
for this sneaky law, so I’ll give some credit to the politically active
Ricketts family. Tom Ricketts is the primary owner of the Chicago Cubs. Most of
his family is active in conservative political circles (brother Pete is a
Republican governor of Nebraska). Tom bought the Cubs in 2009 for about $900
million. Forbes estimates that the team is worth about $2.25 billion (2017).
More generally, it’s
a hoax to say that the GOP is the working person’s party.
The last time that the
federal minimum wage law was passed to increase pay was 2007 (raising minimum
wages to $7.25 in 2009). Repeated attempts by Democrats to raise the minimum
wage have been thwarted by Republicans who have argued that the little guy
would be hurt by the law. With unemployment below 5% since 2015, that argument
is pure nonsense.
The baseball story
tells a more general tale: the rising gap in income and wealth for rich and poor is
determined by laws such as the federal minimum wage law—not just market forces. Tom Ricketts will pocket more money now, while his minor league minions make crumbs.
(Thanks to Sam for the tip on this story!)
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