Labor Secretary Walsh Makes Pitch to Help End Baseball Lockout

U.S. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh has offered to help end the lockout between Major League Baseball and its players’ union that threatens the 2022 season.

“I have spoken to both the MLBPA and MLB about the ongoing contract negotiations and encourage both sides to continue engagement,” Walsh said in a statement to Bloomberg Law on Monday. “Like any contract negotiation in any industry, I stand ready to help facilitate productive conversations that result in the best outcome for workers and employers.”

A spokesperson for Major League Baseball didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about Walsh’s offer. A spokesperson for the players’ union, the Major League Baseball Players Association, couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

News of Walsh’s overture, first reported by Politico, comes a few days after the players’ union rejected a request from the league to have a third-party mediator help end the impasse.

Major League Baseball team owners initiated the lockout in December after talks with the players failed to reach a new collective bargaining agreement. The league argued the lockout was the best method to address the labor dispute and save the season, which is slated to begin March 31.

Walsh, a longtime union leader and former mayor of Boston, is the first union member to lead the U.S. Department of Labor in nearly half a century. Since taking office in March 2021, he has consistently championed organized labor, joining Kellogg’s workers on the picket line, and brokered a deal that ended a nine-month strike for nurses in Massachusetts.

The players’ union has sought relief from a requirement that younger players serve in the major leagues for six years before they’re eligible for big-money contracts in free agency, among other issues.

The lockout bars players from accessing team facilities.