In today’s news and commentary, Major League Baseball begins negotiating with the Players Association over the next collective bargaining agreement, the Westchester County Board of Legislators passes a new wage act, and a group of USDA employees and their union sue the Agriculture Secretary over religious messages sent in April.

Top officials from Major League Baseball (MLB) and the MLB Players Association met on Tuesday to exchange opening presentations in advance of the December 1 expiration date of the current collective bargaining agreement. Talks for the last agreement began in April 2021 and ended with a deal in March 2022 that preserved the 162-game schedule after the sides bargained past several deadlines. While details on the proposals are currently scarce, it is well-known some major league owners are advocating for a salary cap system that also contains a floor to slow spending. The union has responded that a cap system consequently decreases spending on players.

The Westchester Board of Legislators unanimously passed the Westchester County Lessor Prevailing Wage Act on Wednesday. The Act guarantees construction workers on County-leased properties the same standard union wages they would earn on County-owned job sites. Under existing law, workers on privately owned land leased by the County and directly supporting County operations can be denied prevailing wage protections because the law does not classify such construction as a “public work.” The new Act closes this gap. Local 21 Plumbers and Steamfitters member Sean Carey celebrated, “As we sign these bills, we commit to shared prosperity. When workers thrive, families thrive and grow stronger, and our democracy works better for everyone.”

On Wednesday, a group of US Department of Agriculture employees and the union representing the agency’s workers sued Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins for a series of religious emails she sent to the agency in early April.  On April 5, Rollins sent a series of proselytizing Christian messages that addressed all USDA employees. Workers and the union allege that Rollins’ language violates the Constitution and the Administrative Procedure Act, and accuse the Secretary of engaging in an escalating pattern of religious intrusion in the federal government.