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2017 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

2. History of Labour Relations and Working Conditions in the Premier League, NBA and Rugby Union

Author : Leanne O’Leary

Published in: Employment and Labour Relations Law in the Premier League, NBA and International Rugby Union

Publisher: T.M.C. Asser Press

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Abstract

Historically a club, team, league or federation unilaterally implemented working conditions in a professional sports league. The contractual terms and organizational rules almost always favoured the entity that was in control of the competition. Measures were introduced that limited a player’s capacity to move between clubs and competitions and kept wages low. Over time, employment law and labour relations law has assisted players in the NBA and the Premier League to gain an involvement in the determination of their working conditions and to negotiate employment terms from a position of relatively equal bargaining power. In a competition organized between national teams, such as the men’s Rugby World Cup, it is more difficult because the relationship between an international federation and a professional athlete is regulatory. An employment relationship, if one exists, will be at a national level. This chapter provides a historical account of the organization and development of labour relations in the Premier League, the NBA and international rugby union.

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previous chapter Introduction

next chapter Organization and Regulation of the Premier League, NBA and Rugby Union

Eastham v Newcastle United Football Club [1964] Ch 413 (HC).

C-415/93 Union Royale Belge des Sociétés de Football Association v Bosman [1995] ECR 1-4921 (CJEU).

Robertson v NBA 72 F.R.D. 64 (SDNY 1976).

Hacking involved kicking, below the knee, an opposition player who had the ball: Richards 2006, pp. 28–30.

Richards 2006, pp. 28–30. A scrum is a way of re-starting play in rugby union.

Minutes of the Football Association dated 26 October 1863 held at the National Football Museum, Preston, United Kingdom.

Richards 2006, pp. 33–34.

Ibid.

Collins 2006a, p. xiv.

Vamplew 1988, p. 183. For a specific history of the development of rugby league and rugby union, see Collins 2006a and for football, see Szymanski and Zimbalist 2005.

Yewens v Noakes (1880–1881) LR 6 QBD 530, pp. 532–533.

Vamplew 1988, pp. 196–199.

Vamplew 1988, pp. 43–52.

Vamplew 1988, pp. 43–54.

Catton 1900, p. 56.

See Taylor 2005, see also Lewis 1997.

Lewis 1997, p. 45.

Taylor 2008, p. 49.

Catton 1900, p. 56.

Catton 1900, p. 58.

Ibid.

Inglis 1988, p. 5.

Ibid.

The foundation teams were Aston Villa, Preston North End, Stoke, Wolverhampton Wolves, Bolton, Blackburn, Everton, Notts County, Derby, Burnley, Accrington and West Bromwich Albion.

The Football League Rules January 1889 reproduced in Inglis 1988, p. 15.

Ibid.

Supra n 25.

Taylor 2005, p. 34.

See Radford v Campbell (1890) 6 TLR 488 in which the football club, Nottingham Forest unsuccessfully sought an injunction to prevent a professional player, from playing for Blackburn Rovers. For a discussion of the case and other early football cases, see also McArdle 2000, Chap. 2.

Inglis 1988, p. 38.

Ibid.

Catton 1900, p. 97. See also discussion of Commission Report in FA Minutes of 13 November 1899, 18 November 1899, 15 April 1900 and 12 November 1900.

Taylor 2001, p. 103.

Taylor 2001, pp. 115–116.

For a detailed history of unionism in football, see Harding 2009.

Taylor 2005, p. 137.

Taylor 2005, Chap. 2.

Harding 2009, p. 38.

Kingaby v Aston Villa FC (1912) The Times, 28 March 1912.

Leddy v Chesterfield Football Club Unreported, Court of Appeal, 8 May 1923. For a case summary, see McArdle 2000, Chap. 2.

For a detailed history of labour law and policy in the United Kingdom, see Davies and Freedland 1993.

Harding 2009, p. 124.

Harding 2009, p. 115.

See Forster 1952.

Harding 2009, p. 117.

Eastham, supra n 1.

See also Sect. 4.4, infra.

Eastham, supra n 1, p. 433.

Eastham, supra n 1, p. 438.

Ibid.

Eastham, supra n 1, p. 450.

Harding 2009, p. 159.

See Chester 1968.

Commission on Industrial Relations 1974, para 174.

References to the Commission for a report into labour relations in a particular industry came through the Secretary of State for Employment or the National Industrial Relations Court pursuant to s 121(1) of the Industrial Relations Act 1971 (since repealed). The Commission was abolished in 1974 by the enactment of the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act 1974.

Commission on Industrial Relations 1974, para 168.

Ibid.

Commission on Industrial Relations 1974, paras 229–230.

Harding 2009, p. 175.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills May 2014, p. 5.

Ibid.

Harding 2009, p. 193. See also Walters, G (undated) “The Professional Footballers’ Association: A Case Study of Trade Union Growth” available on line at http://www.bbk.ac.uk/hosted/management/mscmres/oldfootballsite1/papers/pfa-paper. Accessed on 31 July 2016.

See also the discussion of the Football Creditors’ Rule in Sect. 8.7.2, infra.

Bercusson 2009, p. 43.

See Sect. 6.3, infra.

Bosman, supra n 2.

See also discussion in Sect. 5.2.3, infra.

See R v Football Association Ltd ex parte Football League Ltd [1993] 2 All ER 833, a judicial review claim that challenged the FA’s decision to re-organize professional football.

See the discussion in Sect. 8.2, infra.

Premier League Press Release (10 February 2015) League Awards UK Live Broadcast Rights for 2016/2017 to 2018/19. www.premierleague.com/news/60495. Accessed 31 July 2016.

Harding 2009, p. 229.

Harding 2009, p. 233.

Personal interview with the PFA, December 2013, Manchester.

For a discussion of the dispute, see Welch 2012.

For a detailed history see Kirchberg 2007.

See Van Bottenburg 2011, pp. 205–225. See also Halgreen 2004, Chap. 3.

See Van Bottenburg 2011.

Kirchberg 2007, pp. 23–25.

For an account of the Black Sox Scandal, see Asinof 1963.

Asinof 1963, p. 15 and p. 265.

For a history of collective bargaining in the NBA, see Staudohar 1986, Chap. 4 and see also NBA v Williams 45 F 3d 684 (2nd Cir 1995).

See generally Berry et al. 1986, Chap. 6.

Robertson, supra n 3, p. 67.

See Robertson, supra n 3, American Basketball Players’ Association v NBA 404 F. Supp 832 (SDNY 1975), Robertson v NBA 413 F Supp 88 (SDNY 1976), Robertson v NBA 389 F Supp 867 (SDNY 1976).

Robertson v NBA 389 F Supp 867 (SDNY 1976).

For a detailed discussion of labour relations law and the exemptions relevant to collective bargaining and trade union activities in the USA, see Sect. 7.3 infra.

Robertson v NBA 389 F Supp 867 (SDNY 1976), pp. 896–897.

Robertson v NBA, supra n 3.

Re New York Knickerbockers Basketball Club 630 F Supp 136 (SDNY 1986) 136.

Ibid., p. 137.

Bridgeman v NBA 675 F Supp 960 (DNJ 1987).

For a discussion of unfair labour practices under federal labour law in the USA, see Sect. 7.2.2, infra.

NBA v Williams 857 F Supp 1069 (SDNY 1994).

Ibid., p. 1079.

Supra n 93, p. 1079 (Kevin Thomas Duffy DJ).

NBA v Williams 45 F 3d 684 (CA 2 (NY) 1995).

For a summary of the labour relations disputes in each of the four major sports leagues, see Birren 2014.

NBA v NBPA (USDC SD New York No 11CV05369, 2 August 2011) (2011 WL3274242 (S.D.N.Y.).

Anthony v National Basketball Association (Complaint No. 11-05525 (N.D. Cal. 15 November 2011)) and Butler v National Basketball Association (Complaint, No. 11-03352 (D. Minn. 15 November 2011)). For further discussion, see Sect. 7.3, infra.

100

Brice 2013, p. 60.

101

Ibid.

102

Collins 2006a. See also Collins 2006b.

103

Moorhouse 1989, p. 4.

104

Moorhouse 1989, p. 6.

105

Ibid.

106

Moorhouse 1989, p. 61.

107

Minutes of the Meeting of the Rugby Football Union held 19 September 1895. Copies of the RFU minutes and IRB minutes referred to throughout this book are held at the Rugby Union Museum, Twickenham, London.

108

Ibid.

109

Minutes of the IRB Meeting held 5 December 1887 in Manchester, England.

110

IRB Manifesto adopted 29 September 1888.

111

International Rugby Football Board Byelaws 1888, bye-law 5.

112

Award by Arbitrators, Lord Kingsburgh and Major F A Marindin, who met in April 1890 which Defines the Regulations of the International Rugby Football Board recorded in the IRB Minutes for that year.

113

See for example: the discussion regarding the schedule of international matches with “a view to avoiding a clashing” (recorded in the Minutes of the IRB Meeting held 8 February 1892, Manchester, England), the discussion of J Marsh’s eligibility for England having previously played for Scotland and the IRB’s adoption of a rule that determined a player’s eligibility based on country of birth or residence (recorded in the Minutes of the IRB Meeting held 8 February 1892, Manchester, England). The IRB resolved, “No man should play for two countries”: ibid. The transfer of players between national federations was the subject of discussion in 1893 although the IRB resolved, at that time, to leave the issue for determination by the national federations: Minutes of the IRB Meeting held 4 March 1893, Leeds, England.

114

Watts Moses 1961, p. 28.

115

Minutes of the IRB Meeting held 20 March 1896 in London, England.

116

Minutes of the IRB Meeting held 25 January 1897 in London, England.

117

Undated Resolutions Passed by the Welsh Union appended to the Minutes of the IRB Meeting held 20 February 1897.

118

Minutes of the IRB Meeting held 25 January 1898 in Crewe, England.

119

Pugh 1995, pp. 7–9. Copies of all IRB Amateurism Working Party Reports are held by the Rugby Union Museum, Twickenham, London.

120

For a detailed account of events in rugby league and rugby union in 1995, see FitzSimons 2003.

121

News Limited and Ors v Australian Rugby Football League Ltd and Ors (1996) 139 ALR 193 (HCA).

122

FitzSimons 2003, pp. 94–98.

123

Ibid.

124

FitzSimons 2003, pp. 279–301.

125

Pugh 1995, p. b.

126

Pugh 1995, p. 19.

127

Pugh 1995, Appendix 1.

128

See also the Sports Discrimination Bill (UK), a private members’ bill introduced in the House of Commons in June 1994, which proposed to “make it unlawful for any rule-making body for a sport to discriminate against persons who have participated, are participating or are expected to participate in any lawful sport and for any connected purposes” and see the House of Commons National Heritage Select Committee Third Report 1994‐1995. Both the Bill and Select Committee Inquiry considered the ban against rugby league participants being involved in rugby union. The decision to adopt professionalism avoided any direct Government intervention into the administration of rugby union in the United Kingdom.

129

See Sects. 3.4.2 and 3.4.3 infra.

130

Telephone interview with IRPA 30 May 2014.

131

For a discussion of the labour relations regime in the USA, see Chap. 7, infra; in the United Kingdom, see Chap. 4, infra.

132

See Chaps 10 and 11, infra.

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Title: History of Labour Relations and Working Conditions in the Premier League, NBA and Rugby Union
Author: Leanne O’Leary
Publisher: T.M.C. Asser Press
Book: Employment and Labour Relations Law in the Premier League, NBA and International Rugby Union
Print ISBN: 978-94-6265-158-6

Electronic ISBN: 978-94-6265-159-3

Copyright Year: 2017
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6265-159-3_2

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