Report: Spending bill could exempt minor leaguers from labor laws

A government spending bill is slated to go before Congress this week, as soon as Monday night, and it could include a provision that would exempt Minor League Baseball players from federal labor laws, congressional officials tell the Washington Post's Mike DeBonis.

The provision is not in any of the current drafts, but the sources say it is being seriously considered.

Major League Baseball has reportedly been seeking a way to preempt lawsuits that have been filed by minor leaguers in the last couple years saying they've been illegally underpaid. The league has claimed exemptions because the players are seasonal employees, which allows clubs to pay individuals $1,100 per month, which is well below federal minimum wage standards.

Pat O'Conner, president of Minor League Baseball, said determining a better system for payment and labor at the minor-league level is tricky.

"We’re not saying that it shouldn’t go up," he said. "We’re just saying that the formula of minimum wage and overtime is so incalculable. I would hate to think that a prospect is told, ‘You got to go home because you’re out of hours, you can’t have any extra batting practice.’ It’s those kinds of things. It’s not like factory work. It’s not like work where you can punch a time clock and management can project how many hours they’re going to have to pay for."

Garrett R. Broshius, the attorney representing players regarding potential wage violations, sees things differently.

"This is about billionaire owners using their clout to try to pass something that isn’t going through the normal procedures of legislature and that is only going to make thousands of minor leaguers suffer even more," he said.

More details, including exact verbiage of the reported provision, should be available upon release of the bill proposal early in the week.