2006 Minor League Baseball Umpire Strike - During The Strike

During The Strike

The dispute began in February 2006. As PBUC's contract with AMLU had expired in 2005, both groups were engaged in negotiating the terms of the next 5-year contract for the umpires. Contention emerged over a salary hike proposed by PBUC, the first in almost a decade. PBUC offered a $100-a-month raise as well as an across-the-board increase of $1 per day to the per diem payments. The deal also included a proposal to raise the deductible for the umpires' health insurance from $100 to $500, reducing the effective amount of the salary hike. AMLU rejected the deal outright, claiming that it was insufficient to meet their needs.

AMLU made an announcement on March 24, 2006 that they had filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board against PBUC. The umpires began to strike shortly thereafter.

The first Minor Leagues to announce that their umpires had failed to report on April 4 for opening day were the International and Texas leagues. Umpires for the Southern League failed to report on April 5. April 6 was the national opening day for Minor League Baseball. Two hundred and twenty umpires represented by the AMLU went on strike, refusing to report across 16 different leagues.

Management (PBUC) then issued a statement that they had made their best and final offer. They then announced that they would continue the season, implying that they would employ the use of replacement umpires in the place of the professional AMLU workers.

On May 11 some major league umpires joined with the AMLU umps in a show of solidarity. Tim Timmons, Randy Marsh, Angel Hernandez, Hunter Wendelstedt and Sam Holbrook arrived in the picket line outside of Cooper Stadium to strike alongside AMLU umps.