PHOENIX -- John Hirschbeck was elected Sunday as president of the World Umpires Association, the new union formed to represent major league baseball's umpires.
Hirschbeck, an AL umpire for 17 years, was picked at the first meeting of the union, which was certified Thursday by the National Labor Relations Board.The certification meant the end of the old union and its chief, Richie Phillips, who tried to organize a mass resignation last season that led to 22 umpires losing their jobs.
The union also elected umpires Joe Brinkman as vice president and Tim Welke as secretary-treasurer, as well as a six-man board of directors.
"We want to have a better working relationship with baseball," Hirschbeck said. "We want to establish a more positive image for major league umpires."
"I think that the public, by seeing that umpires wanted this new organization, wanted to go in a new direction, I think that that first off shows that we're tired with the way things were and we want to change and that now we'll continue to go about making that change."
The union does not have a contract with baseball. The umpires had been operating under their old contract, a five-year deal which expired Dec. 31. The formation of the union ended the temporary contract extension they had been operating with.
Hirschbeck said negotiations for a new contract would begin Monday in Phoenix. He said he would be actively involved in the talks.
"We have attorneys to advise us," said Hirschbeck, adding that Joel Smith is the new union's labor lawyer. "One of the biggest things that we said throughout this entire campaign was that this was going to be a union run by umpires for umpires."
Phillips, an attorney, was highly visible in his 21-year reign as union chief. Hirschbeck had been a vocal critic of Phillips, especially last summer.
Phillips wanted umpires to resign in an effort to get baseball to give the umpires a much better contract. Umpires voted 57-32 at the end of last season to dispose Phillips and form a new union.