Overview
The Players' Union (formally the Japan Professional Baseball Players Association) is the labor union comprising all NPB players, dedicated to protecting player rights and improving working conditions. It was officially certified as a labor union in 1985, gaining collective bargaining rights with team ownership. The union's most critical function is negotiating player labor conditions with the owners: minimum salary guarantees, free agency terms, draft system reforms, season length, and postseason structure all fall within its purview. The defining moment in the union's history was the 2004 strike. Opposing the proposed reduction in the number of teams through mergers, the union called NPB's first-ever strike after negotiations broke down. The action generated enormous public attention and ultimately secured the preservation of the 12-team structure, the introduction of interleague play, and the admission of a new franchise. The union president is an active player, and representatives from each club's chapter convene to set policy. In recent years, the union's scope has expanded beyond traditional labor negotiations to encompass second-career support for retiring players, mental health care, and harassment prevention.