Earlier this week, the Chicago Cubs grounds crew experienced a disaster. As rain poured onto Wrigley Field, they were unable to cover the playing surface with a tarp in time. They were booed. The game was called. Because of the mismanagement, their opponents, the San Francisco Giants, protested the game after it had been called as a win for the Cubs. They succeeded. It was the first successful protest in Major League Baseball in 28 years, according to Deadspin.
But the whole bizarre episode was cast in a new light Thursday when the Chicago Sun-Times reported that the Cubs had slashed worker hours to keep them under 30 hours a week to avoid paying health benefits under Obamacare.
Citing “numerous sources with direct knowledge,” the Sun-Times reported that the Cubs had sent home 10 grounds crew workers early the night of the Tuesday game that ended in disaster. And at least part of the reason, per the newspaper’s sources, is that the team has been trying to keep seasonal workers under 30 hours per week as the Affordable Care Act takes effect.
I honestly don’t know if I should laugh or cry reading this.
A spokesman for the Cubs, which are reportedly worth $1 billion and were the most profitable team in baseball in 2013, didn’t refute the claims when asked by the Sun-Times, but he denied personnel changes were responsible for the field tarp incident
Regardless of how many hours the staff are working, I assume that they jumped into action when the rain started coming. I don’t think either management or staff has much say in how fast the deluge comes.
climate change, of course
It was bolded, even. It takes the whole grounds crew to deploy the tarp. Subtract ten of them, and it’s going to take longer to get the thing unrolled. You can blame Obamacare, or you can blame the Cubs, which is what the Giants did,
I often hear people denigrate the poor by commenting that “Those people on welfare wear fancy sneakers, carry cell phones, and have tattoos…” and so on.
Yes, they do. They do so because that is what they are taught is important. In the USA, Image, Brand Names, Status mean more than food, medicine, justice.
If anyone doubts me, tell me why we have a nation where The Chicago Cubs have 32 players making $93,446,524 in total and yet, The Chicago Cubs see that as more important than providing standard health care and a living wage to a few dozen maintenance and facilities employees.
We, as a society are NO different than the young men on welfare wearing $125 Nike shoes and a $50 Tommy Hilfiger T-Shirt. They are a reflection of who we are and what we value.
suck.
I know they’re the preppy choice for baseball, but their winning percentage is worse than the 2014 Red Sox. They suck, and they make no money.
I don’t have a problem with athletes making what they make, but they are union players. They ought to show some solidarity. Cripes, they could take up a collection and pay the insurance of those guys. Professional athletes have a much better standard of living BECAUSE they are unionized. It’s because they are unionized they have free agency. Curt Flood and others fought for those rights.
The real low-lifes are the owners.
Curt Flood and others fought for those rights. They could take up a collection and pay the insurance of those guys or better yet they could help them organize and they could support that labor union. That’s the problem. While I absolutely support labor unions, I am disheartened and disappointed in many union members who are forgetting their brothers and sisters.
so go our unions. But in education, things are changing.