The rise and fall of the Rugby League Players' Union : 1979-2000

Tilda Khoshaba, Marian Baird, Rae Cooper, M. Westcott

    Research output: Chapter in Book / Conference PaperConference Paper

    Abstract

    ![CDATA[The Rugby League Players' Union has existed for 25 years. However its existence has been marred by internal power struggles, competing organisations that divided the market, no recognition from the ruling body, no blanket support from the professional players' and poor management. The situation in rugby league was in distinct opposition with the happenings in other sports. During the late 1980's right through to the 1990's, the professionalism of athletes highlighted a number of vulnerabilities, associated with player's ability to negotiate a fair days pay for a fair days work: and as a result players' in various leagues looked towards forming collective bodies to improve their overall working conditions and wages. In the sport of rugby league, however, players' were not looking for a collective organisation to join; they were looking for avenues to end their membership of a collective organisation. Player support for a collective organisation in the sport of rugby league was in decline and it seemed that in 2000 the players' union would no longer have the membership support or an executive in place to continue its original objectives. This paper will discuss the rise and fall of the players' union in the period 1979 to 2000 and evaluate the reasons why the players' union was marred with negativity during this time.]]
    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationReworking Work: AIRAANZ 05: Proceedings of the 19th Conference of the Association of Industrial Relations Academics of Australia and New Zealand
    PublisherUniversity of Sydney
    Number of pages10
    ISBN (Print)1864876999
    Publication statusPublished - 2005
    EventAssociation of Industrial Relations Academics of Australia and New Zealand. Conference -
    Duration: 1 Jan 2009 → …

    Conference

    ConferenceAssociation of Industrial Relations Academics of Australia and New Zealand. Conference
    Period1/01/09 → …

    Keywords

    • Rugby League football
    • Austalia
    • Rugby League football players
    • labor unions
    • Association of Rugby League Professionals
    • history

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'The rise and fall of the Rugby League Players' Union : 1979-2000'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this