OC Register: Dodgers, Angels will distribute combined $2.5 million to event staff

[AngelsWin.com]

LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers put in place a distribution program Tuesday that will pay $1.3 million to game-day workers put out of work by MLB’s shutdown during the coronavirus pandemic.

The payouts from the fund will go to “event staff, concessions, parking, cleaning personnel employed by third party contractors and the Dodgers Foundation event staff.”

The Angels announced Sunday that they would be making approximately $1.2 million in payments to more than 1,800 game-day employees.

Meanwhile, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has reportedly told teams he will suspend the Uniform Employee Contracts as of May 1. That would allow teams to cut the salaries of non-playing employees or impose unpaid furloughs with the sport shut down indefinitely. Manfred’s move is allowed in the case of national emergencies.

The suspension is an optional thing for individual teams. The Angels are in the majority of teams that have told their baseball operations employees they will continue to be paid through the month of May. The San Diego Padres told employees they would be paid through the end of the 2020 season though some will be asked to take paycuts.

The Dodgers, meanwhile, would not comment on the status of their baseball ops staffers. A team official said it was something the team was still working through internally.

Related Articles

• Fans restless with no baseball games, no ticket refunds
• MLB moves to allow layoffs, paycuts for managers, coaches starting May 1
• Angels make $1.2 million in payments to ballpark employees
• Dodgers rookie Gavin Lux staying busy in video game tournament while waiting for return to field
• Bobby Winkles, former Angels manager, dies at 90

In the case of layoffs or furloughs, some lower-salaried employees could be eligible for unemployment benefits.

MLB has also reportedly begun negotiations with the players’ union to cut player salaries if games are eventually played without fans in attendance. Those games would obviously produce no ticket (or concession) revenue.

According to an ESPN report, Manfred’s email to team employees included the acknowledgement that “it is very difficult to predict with any accuracy the timeline for resumption of our season.

View the full article