Brown Introduces Resolution Honoring Marvin Miller, Labor Advocate and MLBPA Executive Director

Miller Negotiated First Collective Bargaining Agreement in Major League Baseball History, Represented Machinists Union, UAW, and USW

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) introduced a resolution honoring the life of Marvin Miller today. Miller, who served as the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) from 1966-1982 passed away on Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2012. U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) cosponsored the resolution.

“Baseball and working people everywhere lost a fierce and effective advocate in Marvin Miller,” said Brown, an avid baseball fan who penned an opinion editorial in the Washington Post urging Miller’s inclusion in the Baseball Hall of Fame. “During a time when collective bargaining rights are under assault around the country, we should look to Miller’s strong resolve and dedication as an example. A fierce fighter for worker’s rights, he was also the most influential baseball man never inducted into Cooperstown.”

As executive director, Miller led the MLBPA as it negotiated the first collective bargaining agreement in professional sports. Miller went on to win the players’ right to have grievances heard by an impartial arbitrator, and gained a limited right to have salary demands subjected to arbitration. Although Miller was on the ballot five times, he was never inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

 

Born in the Brox in 1917, Miller graduated from New York University with a degree in economics. He resolved labor disputes for the National War Labor Board during World War II and worked for International Association of Machinists and the United Auto Workers, and the United Steelworkers Union before moving to the MLBPA.

 

 

RESOLUTION

 

Recognizing and honoring Marvin Miller and expressing condolences to his family on his death.

 

Whereas Marvin Julian Miller was born on April 14, 1917, in the Bronx, New York;

 

Whereas Marvin Miller began his work as an economist for the National War Labor Board;

 

Whereas Marvin Miller also served as a representative and negotiator for the Machinists Union, the United Auto Workers, and the United Steelworkers;

 

Whereas Marvin Miller served as the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association from 1966 to 1982;

 

Whereas Marvin Miller negotiated the first collective bargaining agreement of the Major League Baseball Players Association with team owners in 1968, crafting a new structure to    ensure that players, owners, and the business of baseball grew stronger;

 

Whereas starting in 1966, baseball began 1 of the most competitive periods of the game under the leadership of Marvin Miller;

 

Whereas Marvin Miller created a real balance in baseball between owners and players that transformed the game and established a lasting legacy;

 

Whereas the expansion of labor rights under the leadership of Marvin Miller impacted all of the professional sports leagues, endowing athletes with greater freedoms;

 

Whereas the contributions by Marvin Miller to baseball were critical driving forces in reinvigorating the game financially and bringing the cherished national pastime to even         larger audiences; and

 

Whereas Marvin Miller was 1 of the most influential individuals in baseball history: Now, therefore, be it

 

Resolved, That the Senate—

 

(1) recognizes Marvin Miller as 1 of the greatest contributors to the labor movement, the game of baseball, and professional sports;

 

(2) honors Marvin Miller for his work to ensure equity and fairness in labor-management relations;

           

            and

 

(3) extends its deepest condolences to the family of Marvin Miller.

 

 

###