Teamsters look to loan union muscle to UFC, citing lower pay for women fighters
No one needs to hold a benefit for Ronda Rousey, the charismatic face of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s women’s division who makes nearly $200,000 per fight, but the relatively meager pay of the women on the other end of her punches have the Teamsters looking to unionize the UFC.
In addition to the pay gap between Rousey and her fellow female fighters, the major union, as well as Culinary Workers Local 226 of Las Vegas, note that women in general get paid half what the UFC’s men get, and also receive a smaller piece of the endorsement pie. The labor groups say the sport’s exploding popularity make this the perfect time to strike.
“We have been surprised to learn how poorly these professional fighters are treated in [Mixed Martial Arts],” said Chris Griswold, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 986. “We want to help them improve conditions for themselves and raise standards for the sport.” SOURCE
Tell me that the writer of this story doesn’t have a flair for humor and a bit of a historic demeanor.
How did the unions get their guys in place, muscle! How did they keep their guys in a position of power, muscle! How did they expand their operations all around the nation, muscle! How did Union Bosses make fortunes and live the lavish lives they lived, muscle, corruption and organized crime.
What was the penalty for failing to adhere to the line being set by the bosses at the top of the chain? Well, maybe you need to ask Jimmy Hoffa about that.
Oh, wait … Hoffa seems to have been missing for a few decades.
Back in the late 1950’s the Teamsters were in all kinds of legal trouble and that was what brought Jimmy Hoffa into the picture.
A federal district court barred Hoffa from taking power unless he was acquitted in his wiretapping trial.[105] The ruling was upheld by a court of appeals, but the trial ended in a hung jury on December 19, 1957, and Hoffa assumed the presidency on February 1, 1958.
The worsening corruption scandal led the AFL-CIO to eject the Teamsters. AFL-CIO President George Meany worried that corruption scandals plaguing a number of unions at the time might lead to harsh regulation of unions or even the withdrawal of federal labor law protection, began an anti-corruption drive in April 1956. SOURCE
The Teamsters might be a lot different than they were many years ago, maybe they learned that *muscle* is not the way to get the job done, but I have vivid memories of the conversations my Dad had with some of his fellow workers in the late 1950’s about joining the Teamsters and how it would make them all a lot of money.
My Dad had been a Teamster a few years prior and had taken a withdrawal when he went to work for an oilfield company in early 1954. He was not in the mood to come under the thumb of the Teamsters, or the cloud of corruption that seemed to follow the Teamsters everywhere they went.
Needless to say, I was raised in a very *non-union shop* and in MY mind I believe it would be best if the MMA fighters and UFC all stayed as far away from the Teamsters as possible.
The unions jointly created a website, Fightersagenda.org, which claims in a post called “Women Fight Cheaper” that after reviewing information dating back to November 2012 — when the women’s division was created — until January 2015, a woman fighter pulled in $37,476 per fight on average compared to $61,691 by men.
So, I have to ask; how much is it going to cost those female fighters in union dues and other assorted payoffs to reach that level of equality in pay? Do these union hacks think Ronda Rousey came out there and fought for $200K a fight right from the start?
The UFC dismissed the unions’ push in a statement, calling it their “newest brazen tactic in a failing effort to organize culinary workers at a Las Vegas casino.” It was an apparent reference to bad blood between the UFC’s primary owners, Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta and Culinary Local 226, which has previously sought to unionize workers at the Station Casinos, which the couple owns.
“It is extremely duplicitous that the same labor union that has spent years demeaning UFC athletes, denouncing the sport of mixed martial arts and doing everything possible to keep MMA out of New York, is now claiming to care about the interests of athletes in the UFC,” the statement said. “We are proud of our relationship with all athletes who have entered into contracts with the UFC, and we are proud to produce a product that is enjoyed by millions of fans around the world.”
Those millions of fans might not like it if suddenly the fights they love to attend or watch on Pay Per View suddenly tripled or quadrupled in price just to cover the *competitive wages* for the undercard and the payoffs to every swinging sausage all the way to the top of the union change.
I’m not a business expert but I feel strongly that if such were to happen the most REAL contact sport in the world would be dealt a death blow, simply because of union greed.
“If they don’t get the headline fighters to join, their chances of unionizing diminishes significantly.” - Prof. Warren Zola, Boston College
And therein lies the *bottom line*. If the main card fighters don’t unionize and if they can stand the pressure, think MUSCLE, that will be brought to bear against them, then the UFC can easily retain the status quo and those that want to make the big bucks can *fight* their way to the top and make the money with the talent they have and exhibit, not for a *everyone plays and we all win* piece of crap philosophy that is so prevalent in Liberals all over America today.
Truth be told, mixed martial arts is both a sport and an entertainment; profitable and sponsored entertainment.
And, if one looks at the way entertainment unions deal with talent, there are wage minimums and complex rules. In reality, the only rule is that your representative negotiates a performance fee commensurate with your popularity and value in drawing an audience … and the union sucks down their cut for doing little or nothing.
Now to the bad news. Unions do not play fair. They may attempt to use their leverage in transportation to delay and disrupt events or convince other unions to stand in solidarity and create “problems.” Like the “insurance racket” run by the mobs.
Unless the entire enterprise — management, talent, and functionaries hold fast, another parasite may invade the body politic to siphon off the nutrients it needs to survive and thrive — and advance their own malignant progressive socialist agenda.
Perhaps the appropriate countermeasure is to expose the cockroaches to the light and let them scamper. Good job Fred.
I, too, grew up in a non-union home. It was a business/economics logic: increase the price of the labor (union dues, union contracts, union negotiation fees) the more expensive the product becomes. The more expensive the product becomes, the fewer people are going to buy it (perceived value/actual value). The fewer people buy the product, the shorter the lifespan of the company producing that product.
Pretty soon, everyone belongs to the same union: Local Brotherhood of Unemployment Collectors.
I am all for equal pay for equal work. The problem here is the “equal” part. Now, I do NOT watch MMA, so I have no idea what the crowd draw or money making is when it comes to these games. But I have to ask, do women’s MMA equal the draw of the crowds and hence, the making of money, as the men’s MMA?
I do know that ladies golf, ladies football, and ladies basketball do not equal the attention or the money as the men’s version. That being said, if your business draws less money, then you should get paid less money. No?
And as far as women making $200,000 a fight, well, I am not so sure I feel sorry for them. I don’t make that in 4 years, yet I am supposed to feel sorry for some woman whiner that says it is not enough for one night’s work?
And don’t tell me how she had to train for years and give up her life to her sport and that is what I am paying for. That means nothing to me. I have 11 years of post high school education. I have a BS degress, a MBA degree, a JD degree, I have been to the police academy, I have my state contractor’s license, a state real estate license, my paralegal certification and a few other life prep courses. I spent hundreds of thousands of dollars and a lot so seat time in class or doing homework, away from my family. But none of these means squat when it comes to demanding higher pay than what I already earn.
And as for the union, if they want to join, let them. It is their careers they will destroy. I am betting that the extra money needed to put on an event with the unions involved will be enough for many to look elsewhere for entertainment.
And as a side note, like Fred, my father and grandfather were union dues paying members for years. Then, back in the early 70, the economy took a dump, the unions took a firm stand, costing them their jobs. When they asked what they were going to do to feed their families, they were told they were on their own. After all those years of paying dues, and telling members that they were looking out for their best interest, My father and grandfather were thrown away like garbage, left to fend for themselves. This was in New Jersey. So, they packed everything they owned, and moved down to Florida, where construction was doing better, and went to work in a union free state.
Sometimes I like to be quite blunt and to the point. Deliver a big whopping punch to the unions’ noses and tell them to keep there noses out of where they don’t belong.
I hate these autocorrect features: their, not there.
Those women on the other end of Ronda Rousey’s punches know what their pay is going to be and they’re willing to accept it for the chance to beat Rousey. If they were to win, then they too would be bringing in the big money to fight. They know this and that’s the stakes of the game. That’s what makes for good hard fights. Rousey trying to stay on top for the big money and her challengers trying to beat her so they can get the big money. If unions were to suddenly get them big money, why would they even try hard to win because win or loose, they’re getting paid very well. Bring in the Teamsters and UCF will go downhill fast.
Back in’69, there was a movement to unionize the machinists/toolmakers in New Jersey and I (22 years old then) was all for it. My dad, business owner, said to me ” you can’t import a road or a building ” meaning that if wages went up artificially because of union demands, then the search for vendors in the state of New Jersey would seek new suppliers in other states. Look now at the city of Detroit and see what the autoworkers union has done for that city, in a relatively short time. I was ignorant of the effects of unionization back then but life has a way of educating the ignorant, if one is paying attention. Beware of the likes of Bernie Sanders and his ilk. They are communists at heart. As a country, we live in dangerous times.