1979 Major League Umpires Strike

The 1979 Major League Umpires Association Strike was a labor tactic used by the Major League Umpires Association (MLUA) against Major League Baseball (MLB) that lasted from March until mid-May, 1979.

Entering the 1979 MLB Season, the union as well as the umpires were unhappy with the arbiters' working conditions. The highest salary an umpire could make was just under $40,000 per year for over 170 games (compared to $60,000 for a NBA official working fewer than 100 games at the time), little to no in-season vacation time, and very little protection against management. "The umpires have kept this game honest for 100 years," Ron Luciano explained to a reporter, in 1978. "We're the only segment of the game that has never been touched by scandal. We gotta be too dumb to cheat. We must have integrity, because we sure don't have a normal family life. We certainly aren't properly paid. We have no health care, no job security, no tenure. Our pension plan is a joke. We take more abuse than any living group of humans, and can't give back any. If we're fired without notice, our only recourse is to appeal to the league president. And he's the guy that fires you. That's gotta be unconstitutional!"

Though the umpires were under contract through the 1981 season, most remained dissatisfied with its terms. As Luciano explained, "Baseball's big shots have been ignoring us for 18 months since we signed that contract. It was agreed that we could still discuss and negotiate matters that were not specifically covered in that contract. But they won't even talk to us. It's like we don't exist. They can dress us up in blue suits, but they don't want to be seen in public with us. Baseball is making us mad, and you know how umpires get when they're mad."

In lieu of a formal "strike" the umpires simply refused to sign their 1979 contracts at the salaries offered, per instruction of union head Richie Phillips. Only two umpires, Paul Pryor of the National League, a 16-year veteran, and Ted Hendry of the American League, a rookie ump, signed their contracts before the union action occurred. Hendry was advised by Phillips to work, and they would both join the union in strike actions later. The leagues made arrangements to use retired and amateur umpires to work the final week of Spring Training, including bringing up eight minor league umpires, including Dave Pallone, Steve Fields, Fred Brocklander and Lanny Harris to the National League and Derryl Cousins, Dallas Parks, Fred Spenn, and John Shulock in the American League. Attempts to force the umpires to go back to work failed as the courts refused to force the umpires to return to work.

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