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
The first step in order to become unionized, an organizing committee needs to be formed that represents all the workers that want to be unionized. The committee needs to be educated enough to share the about the union and possible anti-union campaigns set by management. The organizing committee also has to know the different structures in the workplace, basic employee information and the employers’ information (UE 1). Step two, the organizing committee has to set up campaigns in which they will collectively determine what the “issues” are and what employees demand from the union (Carrell 136). Step three, is without a doubt the most crucial step, it determines whether a union can even come in to bargain with an employer. The employees are asked to join the union and support the union with a union recognition strategy. This is usually done with card-check also known as a card- campaign is held in which more than 50% (sizable majority) have to sign agreeing to the union being their legal bargaining unit (Carrell 136, UE 1). Step four, the union bargains with management and hopefully a union contract is
Collective bargaining, as its name implies, is achieved when two or more parties come together to make a decision about something. Specifically, it is achieved when employers and a group of employees work together to decide important terms and conditions regarding employment. These terms and conditions include compensation as well as rights and responsibilities of employees, employers, and unions. They can also include guidelines for resolving problems such as grievances and disputes (Budd, 2010, p. 13).
The NCAA used to make a college football video games by school's athletes, however, they evaded to pay royalties to athletes by not disclose the name of athletes. It is not fair for the football players that NCAA took away their money. The author believes that the solution is to negotiate with the NCAA, even if, NCAA not allowed players to unionize, players still should negotiate to get enough scholarships. And he said that students need to benefit from their names and portraits, and athletes should be allowed to sign agency agreements with advertising agencies to make money with their image. An Associate Professor of Law at the Zicklin School of Business-Marc Edelman agreed with LaBlue’s opinion. In the article “Should College Athletes Be Allowed to unionize?” reported by the wall street journal states that Edelman argues players are employees and should to certain their rights. He summed up the benefits that unions can bring to athletes, and through unionization the control rights of the college sports can back to hands of students. For example, athletes have been lacking of insurance and disability benefits in matches during long time, however, the union can help these athletes improve their health care insurance and pensions. Before the athlete is punished, union can protected them by holding a hearing. The author stated, “At some colleges, men's basketball players are required to miss upward 20% of their spring-semester class days for athletic purposes,” many student athletes are deprived of the right of choose their own life, the University will replace them to decide class, study plan and schedules. many student athletes are deprived of the right of choose their own life, the University will replace them to decide class, study plan and schedules. Union can give them the freedom to
Labor unions are a gathering of people for a united cause. People within a labor union fight for common goals such as better pay and fair working conditions. In most cases when a union attacks a certain aspect it is so they can all acquire the same out come, such as raising the minimum wage to twelve dollars an hour for all. The primary reason unions were created was because workers weren’t always treated appropriately throughout history. Industrial leaders would make maximum profit by making their employees work twelve to fifteen hour workdays for seven days a week and they would only earn pennies for each hour of work. The conditions in which employees conducted work was unsafe and unhealthy yet no one could complain because they could not afford to lose their job. This is when labor unions were introduced, at first they started off small only pertaining to a specific geological area in regards to a specific craft such as shoe making in Philadelphia. The smaller unions are known as locals, an employee affiliated with the union is then appointed as a liaison between their fellow workers and the corporation making them the shop steward. However, people realized they held power in numbers and ultimately national unions were established such as the, Knights of Labor.
Throughout American history, labor unions have served to facilitate mediation between workers and employers. Workers seek to negotiate with employers for more control over their labor and its fruits. “A labor union can best be defined as an organization that exists for the purpose of representing its members to their employers regarding wages and terms and conditions of employment” (Hunter). Labor unions’ principal objectives are to increase wages, shorten work days, achieve greater benefits, and improve working conditions. Despite these goals, the early years of union formation were characterized by difficulties (Hunter).
The topic of Labor Unions has been the focus of many political debates in recent years, with these discussions having people advocate for and against the unions. Labor Unions are an organization that represent a collective group of employees to protect and further theirs rights and interests. Labor Unions were first introduced in the eighteenth century with increasing numbers around the United States and the world, but unfortunately during the past decade these numbers have drastically decreased, resulting in less education and achievement of solidarity among employees. Solidarity is the unity or agreement of feeling or action, especially among individuals with a common interest. Workers in the United States would benefit more through
Unionism is the concept that traditionally business, especially big businesses are inherently going to exploit their employees. Therefore, in order to protect themselves, the workers form organizations called unions, in which all laborers who work at a certain craft, or in a certain industry band together. By this process of “joining forces”, the unions gain power in numbers. Unions traditionally try to protect employee interests by negotiating with employers for wages and benefits, working hours, and better working conditions.
Most people around the world enjoy sporting events. These events are considered great entertainment options. So what does professional baseball, football, basketball, and most other companies around the United States have in common? If you guessed Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA), Unions, arbitration and strikes/work stoppages you are absolutely correct. In the coming paragraphs, labor relations within the world of sports will be discussed from their unions to how collective bargaining agreements effect both the players and the owners. What is a Collective Bargaining Agreement?
A major topic that comes up with unions is getting better wages for the employees. This is one of the main reasons that unions came to be. Workers of all fields were tired of being paid unfairly by big companies. They realized that they needed a way to organize themselves to fight for better pay. Unions helped aid in this fight. According to History.com, “ The formation of the Federal Society of Journeymen Cordwainers (shoemakers) in Philadelphia in 1794 marks the beginning of sustained trade union organization among American workers.” This was the first time workers tried to organize themselves to get more money for what they did. A key way that unions used workers to make businesses meet their demands was organized strikes. With these organized strikes, the big companies had to comply with some of the demands to raise the employee 's wage, or it would cost them more money in the long run. Strikes are a very powerful tool that unions have used often in the past. Unions orchestrated the strikes in the past pretty well, and the majority of strikes accomplished the goal they were trying to complete. Unions have always fought with companies to give the workers the pay they deserve.
This is when a group of staff or workers is formed into a labor union. These unions play a big role in the firm as they can talk about issues between each other. An example is when there is a problem with the staffs pay amount of even the working conditions.
Labor unions represent workers interests and the collective bargaining process provides a way to manage the conflict (Noe,
Collective bargaining is the process by which conditions of employment are negotiated between management, and the labor organization representing employees in the bargaining unit. However, “collective bargaining refers to a situation in which union members and officials meet with an intent to resolve any issues or conflicts, in an attempt to maintain relationships” (Holley, Jennings, & Wolters, 2012, p. 243). The collective bargaining process relies on four aspects: recognition of the meeting, meeting with appropriate parties, bargaining in good faith, and incorporating the reached agreement (Adam, 1997). Nevertheless, collective bargaining activities are governed by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The NLRA requires bargaining
Collective bargaining agreement is a contract that exists amid the employer and employee. One union for
Individuals can be represented by trade unions when they encounter problems at work. If an employee feels that they are being unfairly treated, he or she can ask the union representative to help sort out the difficulty with the manager or employer. Apart from negotiation and representation, many other benefits can be gained by joining
If a union is formally recognized by an employer, it can negotiate with the employer over terms and conditions. This is known as 'collective bargaining '. For collective bargaining to work, unions and employers need to agree on how the arrangement is to operate. They might, for example, make agreements providing for the deduction of union subscriptions from members ' wages, which is to represent workers in negotiations and how often meetings will take place.