Some salary cuts, no layoffs for Mariners staff

SEATTLE -- In response to Major League Baseball’s ongoing shutdown due to the COVID-19 crisis, the Mariners have assured all of their staffers who are under Uniform Employee Contracts that there will be no layoffs or furloughs through Oct. 31, though about half of the approximately 120 affected staff will have pay reductions for the remaining five months of the current contract period.

Uniform Employee Contracts (UEC) primarily cover Major and Minor League managers, coaches and trainers, as well as high performance staff and professional and amateur scouts. UEC staffers are under contract each year through the end of the playing season on Oct. 31.

Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto will be taking a pay cut, as will manager Scott Servais and his coaching staff. UEC employees who earn more than $60,000 per year will take about a 20 percent cut, with higher-paid staff like Dipoto and Servais receiving greater reductions. Those making just over the $60,000 mark will not be reduced below $60,000.

Major League Baseball suspended the operation of UEC for non-playing personnel on April 20, effective May 1. At that time, the Mariners informed all their UEC employees they would continue their full pay and benefits through May 31. The latest news extends the assurance of employment and full benefits through the rest of this year’s contract period.

The remainder of Mariners employees, such as front-office workers in ballpark operations, finance, legal, marketing and communications departments, are not under contract and no announcement has been made on their status.