MLBPA Announces $1M Fund to Help Support Workers Impacted by MLB Lockout

The MLB Players Association announced Friday it's launched a $1 million fund to help stadium workers and other employees who "face financial hardship through no fault of their own" because of the league's lockout ahead of the 2022 season.

"This fund is intended to support workers who are most affected by the MLB-imposed lockout but whose livelihoods have been disregarded by the owners in their efforts to pressure players into accepting an unfair deal," MLBPA executive director Tony Clark said.

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said Tuesday the first two series of the season, which was scheduled to begin March 31, would be canceled and not rescheduled after the sides failed to reach an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement.

"We exhausted every possibility of reaching an agreement before the cancellation of games," Manfred told reporters.

The lockout began Dec. 2 but it wasn't until last week the sides began seriously negotiating with a flurry of back-and-forth proposals, raising questions about why it took nearly three months to elevate the pace of bargaining that was predictably contentious.

While MLB and union representatives met Thursday in New York, two days after discussions in Florida ended, there were no signs of significant progress toward an agreement and "no indication" when they may talk again, per ESPN.

With the sides digging in their heels, it leaves those who rely on baseball for income facing uncertainty.

The MLBPA said its fund will help a wide range of workers, including concessions crews, electricians, ushers, security, transportation, janitors, groundskeepers and everyone involved in the television and radio production of games.

AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler, whose organization will work with MLBPA to distribute the money, said it's important to support all of the people who make baseball possible.

"Whether you're a worker on the baseball field or a worker behind the scenes, we all deserve dignity and respect on the job," Shuler said. "The labor movement will do everything in our power to support these and all workers."

The MLBPA said it'll work with the AFL-CIO to identify the biggest areas of need in the "weeks ahead."

For now, the tentative schedule calls for no regular-season games before April 7.