1981 Major League Baseball strike

Major League Baseball labor relations
Work stoppages
1972 strike  • 1973 lockout  • 1976 lockout 1980 strike  • 1981 strike  • 1985 strike 1990 lockout  • 1994–95 strike 2021–22 lockout
Topics
Collective Bargaining Agreement  • Collusion  • Reserve clause  • Seitz decision
People
Principal owners Commissioner of Baseball Major League Baseball Players Association Major League Baseball Umpires Association
Court cases
Federal Baseball Club v. National League (1922) Toolson v. New York Yankees, Inc. (1953) Flood v. Kuhn (1972)
Baseball, Organized labor
v t e

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "1981 Major League Baseball strike" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (March 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

The 1981 Major League Baseball strike was the first work stoppage in Major League Baseball since the 1972 Major League Baseball strike that resulted in regular season games being cancelled. Overall, it was the fourth work stoppage since 1972, but actions in 1973, 1976, and 1980 did not result in any regular season games being cancelled.^[1] The strike began on June 12 and forced the cancellation of 713 games (or 38 percent of the Major League schedule) in the middle of the regular season. The two sides reached an agreement on July 31, and play resumed on August 9 with the All-Star Game, with regular season play resuming one day later.

An estimated US$146 million was lost in player salaries, ticket sales, broadcast revenues, and concession revenues. The players lost $4 million a week in salaries while the owners suffered a total loss of $72 million.