Labor Law and Curt Flood

Because of Curt Flood’s resolve, he eventually changed how players are treated and how contracts are negotiated. Although he didn’t win his case, his lawsuit set the stage for changes that would eventually happen.

Permalancers typically perform the same amount of work for a company but they receive far less benefits and they are subject to being dismissed at a moment’s notice.

I found it interested that although baseball was a predominately white sport, Curt Flood was still able to be hired and brought onto the team despite his initial size and stature.

The new face of the American workforce is that of a permalancer. Fourteen million people and growing are now a part of the impermanent workforce in which rising health care costs and an elastic demand for labor mean businesses want people to work full-time without having to make any real commitments to them.

“The human resources management school of thought believes that independent unions are unnecessary third parties that prevent employers and employees from getting closer together” (Budd, 2013, p. 35). There was no way for Curt flood to protest when he felt the reserve clause was unjust when he asked for a $10,000 raise and he was turned down. A union in this situation would have been helpful but it would not have been allowed.

According to the text, “By threatening to strike, unions use their monopoly power to raise wages above their competitive levels and thereby distort employment and output levels through the economic systems” (Budd, 2013, p. 32). And at Viacom, the output levels were definitely distorted. When this media giant tried to reduce health coverage and yank paid vacation days for its permalancers at MTV, the permalancers went on a well-publicized strike with positive results for employees.