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Caddies looking in the wrong place for benefits.

malemotives

malemotives

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Why would the newly formed Professional Caddies Association be seeking some sort of compensation from the Pro Tour and complain that they are not being heard? Specifically, medical benefits. Hello?! Caddies aren't employed by the Tour. They work for and are compensated by their player. I think they are treading on thin ice.
 
I think they are just trying to make sure everyone is covered the guys who caddy for Fringe players will not make as much as the top players caddies can't flat them for organizing it is there right just like the players
 
malemotives said:
Why would the newly formed Professional Caddies Association be seeking some sort of compensation from the Pro Tour and complain that they are not being heard? Specifically, medical benefits. Hello?! Caddies aren't employed by the Tour. They work for and are compensated by their player. I think they are treading on thin ice.
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While it's true they are paid by their player, there are some interesting twists to this. As an example, while they aren't employed by the Tour, the Tour can (and does) dictate what sponsorship opportunities a caddie can carry, but they do not do the same for a player. The linked article is only one "side" of this. Honestly, I can't blame the caddies for wanting to become more organized, whether that be for some sort of deferred pension or a bit more freedom in seeking sponsorship opportunities. Obviously, it has happened in any number of other industries (sometimes to the detriment of the industry, sometimes not).

http://www.golfchannel.com/news/gol...-brewing-between-pga-tour-caddie-association/

Note: Regarding sponsorship opportunities, this would be specific to on-course opportunities.
 
NFL players are essentially independent contractors, but the league provides certain benefits. The fact that the PGA Tour has been using caddies as a walking billboard for Nature Valley puts them in a unique position.
 
I think there is someone the will soon chime in on this questions, Rob. He may know a little more about what's going on behind the scene than we read.
 
The pros are also independant contractors. They do not work for the PGA Tour. Yet, the PGA Tour provides them with insurance and retirement plans. I don't see why the caddies shouldn't get the same treatment.
 
Can I blame Obamacare?
 
staticline said:
The pros are also independant contractors. They do not work for the PGA Tour. Yet, the PGA Tour provides them with insurance and retirement plans. I don't see why the caddies shouldn't get the same treatment.
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This is generally my POV also.
 
I heard about this last week on PGA tour radio. It seems like the Tour does not allow caddies to get extra sponsors to help pay for medical benefits. The term "walking billboard" was used quite a bit in the interview. I'm on the caddies side here.
 
What qualifies one to be a "tour caddie"? Is there a minimum number of rounds that must be worked to qualify?

I'm not against workers getting benefits for their efforts but the benefits should be somehow commensurate with effort applied.

I do not know how caddies get paid and it probably varies with each player/caddie relationship. It seems that the players should pay into a fund as employers and the "tour" negotiates a contract with an insurer.
 
Jeanthemachine said:
What qualifies one to be a "tour caddie"? Is there a minimum number of rounds that must be worked to qualify?

I'm not against workers getting benefits for their efforts but the benefits should be somehow commensurate with effort applied.

I do not know how caddies get paid and it probably varies with each player/caddie relationship. It seems that the players should pay into a fund as employers and the "tour" negotiates a contract with an insurer.
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Pretty sure the tour player can pick anyone. Steve Sticker had his wife being his caddie this weekend. And the guy that won the web. Com tour this weekend had a local club member which had a 5 handicap carry his bag.
 
I would suspect that, even if the Tour, allowed Caddies open ended Sponsorship opportunities, those opportunities would still be limited by their player sponsors to prevent a conflict. I doubt that Bubba Watson and Ping would allow his Caddie to wear TaylorMade logos. I would look toward an effort by the Players to put together a Caddie Insurance package, rather than the Tour. Clearly the players have more control over a Caddie's employment.
 
malemotives said:
I would suspect that, even if the Tour, allowed Caddies open ended Sponsorship opportunities, those opportunities would still be limited by their player sponsors to prevent a conflict. I doubt that Bubba Watson and Ping would allow his Caddie to wear TaylorMade logos. I would look toward an effort by the Players to put together a Caddie Insurance package, rather than the Tour. Clearly the players have more control over a Caddie's employment.
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If you allowed open sponsorship opportunities, that's fine. Pretty sure Taylormade is not going to give bones a hat. However, I would be willing to bet that Callaway would give him a hat and some money to be their billboard. I don't know how it works, but it seems to me that the Player (the actual contract master) would be in a good spot to negotiate such things for the Caddie (the actual contract servant). They already pay them a portion of winnings, might as well give them a portion of the sponsorship and a hat to wear.

Also, I doubt that Tour Players are employers of their caddies. It would be shocking to me if caddies weren't just 'contract' labor. Think of the unemployment benefits they would have to pay if they fire their caddies.

~Rock
 
The tour without the pro's isn't the tour, the caddies are far more replaceable.

It's like a sales model, the pro's drive revenue thus they receive benefits.

Every corporation has two types of employee, those with plus symbols over their heads and those with minus symbols.
 
malemotives said:
I would suspect that, even if the Tour, allowed Caddies open ended Sponsorship opportunities, those opportunities would still be limited by their player sponsors to prevent a conflict. I doubt that Bubba Watson and Ping would allow his Caddie to wear TaylorMade logos. I would look toward an effort by the Players to put together a Caddie Insurance package, rather than the Tour. Clearly the players have more control over a Caddie's employment.
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I would think that most Companies would make sure there players caddies are taken care so as to not having conflicting sponsorships
 
Brianbigoats said:
I would think that most Companies would make sure there players caddies are taken care so as to not having conflicting sponsorships
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Not necessarily. Considering that most of that type of employment is "at will" or "contract" I would imagine the agreement among player and caddie would be to not have conflicting endorsements. Bones already has a deal with Callaway. But, several caddies do not wear the same hat as their player. Those that don't have hat sponsor deals can go the Nature Valley route which has it's own pay/bonus program.

Anyway, any caddie that tried to wear a hat that conflicted with his players logoes would probably be told by the player that he isn't going to carrry the bag if he wears the conflicting logo. And, I would imagine, that the players sponsor(s) could easily cancel their contract with the player, or fine the player, if the player lets the caddy advertise the competition.
 
Brianbigoats said:
I would think that most Companies would make sure there players caddies are taken care so as to not having conflicting sponsorships
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Don't all caddies receive a base salary in addition to a percentage of tour winnings, which is in essence paid for by their player's sponsors? So why does there need to be additional sponsorship for the caddies?

It would make sense for the tour to put together an insurance program and pass on the cost to its players as they could negotiate better rates with the larger numbers. Of course, as mentioned caddies change weekly especially for those players without full time status.
 
But according to the article, the tour is making rules which specifically apply to them, affect their income and define which sponsorship arrangement they can/can't make. That changes things, in my opinion. If the tour wants to regulate performance and compensation I think it's fair game to place expectations on them too.
 
That must be why they banned the Caddy races at the Waste Management, the Tour is trying to help them cut down on medical expenses...
 
tequila4kapp said:
...the tour is making rules which specifically apply to them, affect their income and define which sponsorship arrangement they can/can't make. That changes things, in my opinion. If the tour wants to regulate performance and compensation I think it's fair game to place expectations on them too.
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This is what changes the equation for me, too. Some of their income earning potential (and thus potential for additional monies towards retirement and/or healthcare) is being intentionally limited by the tour itself, not the player they loop for.
 
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I tend to side with the caddies on this one, I'm just curious why it wouldn't have been brought up a long time ago. Things haven't changed in the last 10+ years on Tour...outside of the players and more cash on the table for them.
 
Agent Jay said:
I tend to side with the caddies on this one, I'm just curious why it wouldn't have been brought up a long time ago. Things haven't changed in the last 10+ years on Tour...outside of the players and more cash on the table for them.
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If I remember right, some form of "organizing" discussions have happened in the past, but I don't think they went very far. Don't remember any details on that.
 
Agent Jay said:
I tend to side with the caddies on this one, I'm just curious why it wouldn't have been brought up a long time ago. Things haven't changed in the last 10+ years on Tour...outside of the players and more cash on the table for them.
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My guess is the Tour and the players are making significantly more money while some of the caddies are struggling to get by financially outside of a few of the guys. Organizing is usually a last resort - so I am sure these guys were pursuing this issue for a little while.
 
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