preview

Sports Unions And The Professional Sports Industry

Better Essays

Sports Unions in Canada Kimberly Myros CS 220 A04 Noreen Bourgeios April 6, 2017 Sports Unions in Canada This report focuses on how labour unions are utilized in the professional sports industry in Canada. This section will discuss unions, collective agreements and players’ associations as they relate to this report. Each professional sports league that has unionized is represented by a players’ associations which fights for and protects the rights of the players. The players’ associations negotiate with the league to create and/or renew a collective agreement with mutually beneficial term that allows the league to be successful. Unions A union is described as “an organization with the legal authority to represent workers, …show more content…

The decision to unionize lies within the workers of the organization and are usually formed as a response to actions that are perceived as unfair. Once an organization has unionized they are able to use the union as a bargaining agent. The union speaks on behalf of the workers and meets with the employer to bargain a labour contract called a collective agreement. Collective Agreements After an organization has unionized, the union and organization must negotiate the terms of the agreement to reach a mutually beneficial agreement. The negotiation of these terms results in the creation or renewal of a collective agreement. A collective agreement is defined as “a labour contract that addresses a variety of issues such as wages and benefits, hours of work, working conditions, grievance procedures, safety standards, probationary periods, and work assignments. Usually negotiated between the local union’s bargaining committee and the human resource or industrial relations department” (Schwind, Uggerslev, Wagar, Fassina, & Bulmash, 2016, p. 597). The union and organization must both agree to the terms of a collective agree but if they are not able to come to an agreement conciliation, mediation or interest arbitration will often take place. Conciliation occurs when a government-appointed third party is brought in to help resolve the dispute. Mediation is similar but instead uses a neutral third party to help resolve the dispute. Arbitration is

Get Access