Question

Explain the relationship between individual player contracts and collective bargaining agreements. Do you think that this relationship is fair?

Answer 1

Collective bargaining is the mechanism using which the employer and the union or group of employees try to negotiate and come on a consensus regarding the compensation and working conditions as well as other matters related to the wellness of the employees.

There are 4 methods which can be used for collective bargaining:

• Negotiation: The method using which both the involved parties arrive to a consensus by themselves. There is no third party involvement in this method.

• Mediation: There is involvement of a third party, called the mediator in this method, who guides the involved parties to reach a consensus. The mediator tries to establish clear communication lines between the employer and the union
• Arbitration: In this method, the third party called the arbitrator, is responsible for taking decision on behalf of both the parties. The arbitrator needs to be totally unbiased for the case. The arbitrator hears the arguments of both the parties and decide the outcome, which can be binding or non-binding, based on the nature of the arbitration process
• Conciliation: This method is quite similar to mediation. The only difference is that in mediation, the mediator does not have to state his opinion, he just aids the collective bargaining process. But in conciliation, the conciliator is asked to state his opinion in form of a proposal.

In sports, collective bargaining agreements are used by the team owners and league organizers to negotiate the terms and conditions about the game and the associated compensation, monetary gains, with the players. This helps in keeping the interests of the game as well as the overall team on priority. The individual contracts help in illustrating the terms which the specific player must fulfill, while playing for the league or the team. Some of the topics covered in such agreements are:

• Base compensation
• Injury and non-injury based grievances
• Medical rights
• League and game discipline

In my views, the relationship is quite fair as the player contracts and collective bargaining agreements help in keeping the interests of the league as well as the players in collaboration and helps in maintaining clarity about the various rules and regulations of the league as well as the requirements as well as inhibitions of the player.