# MLBPA-union or association? Is there a difference **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 5, 2001, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlbpa-union-or-association-is-there-a-difference/79856 "2001-09-05T14:13:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Oblong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c0e974/32.png) [@Oblong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oblong)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2001, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlbpa-union-or-association-is-there-a-difference/79856/1 "2001-09-05T14:13:17Z")
Is there a legal or practical difference between a union or association? Specifically, is the Major League Baseball Player’s Association considered a union? Are there bargaining rights that a union has that an association doesn’t have? ---
**Author:** ![MinkMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minkman/32/19170_2.png) [@MinkMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MinkMan)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2001, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlbpa-union-or-association-is-there-a-difference/79856/2 "2001-09-05T15:33:25Z")
Yes, there is a difference. In the US, unions are overseen by the [National Labor Relations Board.](http://www.nlrb.gov/) Most importantly (although an oversimplification), unions have the right of _collective bargaining_, the right to bargain with an employee on behalf of its members as group. Generally, to have a union you need to get a certain percentage of employees (35% I think) to sign cards saying the want to be in a union and then file a petition with the NLRB who will hold a secret ballot election of the employees to establish the union. The MLBPA is a union. It was originally organinzed with the help of the United Steel Workers Union. [Here](http://bigleaguers.yahoo.com/mlbpa/history.html) is a brief history of the MLBPA.