TRADE UNION REGULATIİONS FOR PROFESSİONAL ATHLETES AS A REFLECTİON OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS IN SPORTS AND THE INFERENCES FOR TURKEY

Abstract

Today, industrial relations cover many sectors. This study is conducted in order to give a different perspective on industrial relations from the point of view of working life and examines industrial relations in the sports sector. Sport has been seen as a leisure activity since prehistoric times. However, with the influence of the Industrial Revolution, the Modern Olympics and the globalization process, it has become an industrial field of study both nationally and internationally. This development created the relations between workers (professional athletes) and employers (sports club owners) in the sports industry, and then athletes’ unions were included in the sports industry. For this reason, labor relations in sports have turned into industrial relations. Athlete unions, which operate as a requirement of industrial relations in sports, have come to the fore, especially in countries where sports are industrialized. In our country, all attempts of the athletes to unionize have been unsuccessful. In this study, in order to be successful unionization attempts athletes in our country; “Major League Soccer Player Association”, “Spanish Basketball Players Association” and “Australian Rugby Union Players' Association” collective bargaining agreements with employers examined. In this context, a union to represent the athletes in Turkey; must have the authority to collective bargaining, to follow an organizational policy covering the athletes in the upper and lower leagues related to different sports branches as a whole, to get help from experts, to ensure financial sustainability, to benefit from the socio-economic advantages of the sports industry and to follow the working life of the athletes closely and adapt to this field quickly. policies need to be developed.