Umpires Appeal to Labor Board

With unemployment less than a month away for one-third of its members, the umpires’ union filed an unfair labor practice charge Tuesday against the American and National leagues.

Owners in turn filed a grievance against the umpires, saying their mass resignations violated their labor contract.

Many labor lawyers say the National Labor Relations Board is more likely to rule for the owners than the umpires. To the individual umpires about to lose their jobs, the legal maneuvers may be their final hope.

“I’m going to work as hard as I can to save my job,” said a visibly angry Bill Hohn, one of the 22 umpires notified last week that baseball had accepted their resignations, which are effective Sept. 2.

Umpires want the NLRB to issue a complaint against owners that the agency could use to seek an injunction in federal court to prevent baseball from getting rid of the 22. The board is expected to decide on the charge in four to six weeks.

Attorneys for the umpires contend the July 14 decision to submit their mass resignations was “protected concerted action” under federal labor law and did not violate the provision in their labor contract stating “there shall be no strike nor other concerted work stoppage.”

“I don’t see how that could sit in the parameters within the National Labor Relations Act,” said Stanford law professor William Gould, the NLRB’s former chairman.

In baseball’s first statement since the controversy began, Commissioner Bud Selig, AL President Gene Budig and NL President Len Coleman said the charge had no merit. “The leagues will vigorously contest each and every allegation,” they said.

The umpires held their news conference in a room at the Official All-Star Cafe filled with player jerseys.

In a sign of the split between AL and NL umpires, six NL umpires attended the conference but only one from the AL. Of the 27 umpires who broke with the union by not quitting or withdrawing their resignations before July 25, 23 were from the AL.

Anger toward the AL umpires and toward the replacements filled the room.

“I feel totally betrayed by the umpires who left the union, quit my family, put us in this position,” Hohn said. “They just turned their backs on us. You want to go through the next century with these kinds of people.”

On another front, the president of the minor league umpires said they fired Phillips as their negotiator Monday before he quit, a charge Phillips denies. The minor leaguers were upset Phillips failed to ask the NLRB to hold an election to certify their union, and during a telephone poll Friday and Saturday they decided to seek another lawyer.

Umpires supporting Phillips and those opposed are vying for the support of the 25 minor leaguers who become permanent major league umpires Sept. 1.

“They want a head count in our league of the new guys they hired to see if they could count on knocking Richie out or not,” Angel Hernandez said.