Why a fighter's union must happen

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It is the only way to get rid of USADA. This would be beneficial to both sides.
 
Why would you want to get rid of USADA?

Jon Jones fan?
 
We need a union so fighters can stop getting paid in dog food and bottle caps.
 
Union will not be able to survive ufc monopoly

Even if it did, union should not ask for USADA to go
 
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We need a union so fighters can stop getting paid in dog food and bottle caps.

Makes sense to be prepared.

The Great Wars only 59 years away, your kids and grandkids will need tonnes of bottlecaps to survive.
 
Employers dictate the testing just like all other jobsites. Not the union. The union can contest the results, but it's not like a they can just stroll in and say "we're not doing drug tests anymore."

An employer can select hair follicle, urine analysis or whatever else they chose as a condition of employment.
 
It is the only way to get rid of USADA. This would be beneficial to both sides.
We need a union so fighters can stop getting paid in dog food and bottle caps.
A union needs to happen

And usada needs to stay
Union will not be able to survive ufc monopoly

Even if it did, union should not ask for USADA to go
UNIONIZE THESE NUTS
there is one


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Employers dictate the testing just like all other jobsites. Not the union. The union can contest the results, but it's not like a they can just stroll in and say "we're not doing drug tests anymore."

An employer can select hair follicle, urine analysis or whatever else they chose as a condition of employment.
1) Independent contractors cannot form a union, it is illegal to do so.
2) The fact that the UFC tests these alleged independent contractors year round, signs them to long-term, self-renewing, and exclusive contracts however does pose the question of if they should still be considered independent contractors and instead categorized as employees. This question can only be answered by the National Labor Relations Board.
 
1) Independent contractors cannot form a union, it is illegal to do so.
2) The fact that the UFC tests these alleged independent contractors year round, signs them to long-term, self-renewing, and exclusive contracts however does pose the question of if they should still be considered independent contractors and instead categorized as employees. This question can only be answered by the National Labor Relations Board.
Well that's been the discussion for almost a decade now, hasn't it? Seems many lawyers and fighters all think they're treated and handled like employees despite the language in the contracts making them independent contractors, legally speaking. Shocked that no one has been able to successfully argue it in court but these things take time.
 
Well that's been the discussion for almost a decade now, hasn't it? Seems many lawyers and fighters all think they're treated and handled like employees despite the language in the contracts making them independent contractors, legally speaking. Shocked that no one has been able to successfully argue it in court but these things take time.

There seems to be some disagreement over whether UFC fighters should be classified as independent contractors or employees. What should their status be?

The protections under federal law for union activity only applies to employees, not to independent contractors. So if fighters are ICs, then they could not avail themselves of those protections. The question of whether one is an IC or an employee boils down to a bunch of questions over how much control the employer exerts over the individual. Who controls or directs the employee. There are a number of court cases determining the proper classification of workers in different contexts—workers' comp, unions, taxes, the Fair Labor Standards Act, etc.

One major indicator is if the person has the ability to work for multiple entities. If a contractor is renovating your house, what do they do when they're done? They go renovate other people's houses. They have many multiple homeowners paying them for their work. It is very clear they are independent contractors and not employees of the homeowners. They are less economically dependent on one homeowner, and that makes them ICs.

If you work for only one employer for a long period of time, that employer controls the work a great deal, and there is insufficient entrepreneurial autonomy actually exercised by the individual, it will likely look more like an employment relationship and less like an independent contractor relationship.

And with the new Reebok deal requirements, and the Code of Conduct and the new drug testing policy, that seems like a lot of control over the fighters.

Yes. The more control they exert, the more it looks like an employment relationship.

And who determines if they are employees or independent contractors?

That is up to the courts.

And how do the courts determine it?

If it's in the context of forming a union you have to be employees, you cannot be independent contractors to qualify for the protections of the National Labor Relations Act. So if the employees formed a union and petitioned for an election - a secret ballot election held to certify the union to be their exclusive representative with regards of collectively bargaining - then the National Labor Relations Board would determine that question. The UFC would likely raise as a defense that the fighters are not employees as required by the Act, in which case, the Board would make that decision. Of course, this could be appealed to a court.

For the full article:
https://www.bloodyelbow.com/2015/6/...ociation-do-for-ufc-fighters-labor-law-expert

And additional reading on the topic:
https://www.bloodyelbow.com/2013/7/19/4533358/why-isnt-there-a-union-in-mma
 
Yeah, I'm hip to all this information, but I'll save this for some reading later on!
I can never be too sure. I mean, there are some people who never knew that the friend who provided Jon Jones with the penis pill back during Jones' UFC 200 failed drug test, also ordered clomiphene. Information tends to get lost in the shuffle when it comes to MMA, especially during newsworthy time periods (like UFC 200).
 
1) Independent contractors cannot form a union, it is illegal to do so.
2) The fact that the UFC tests these alleged independent contractors year round, signs them to long-term, self-renewing, and exclusive contracts however does pose the question of if they should still be considered independent contractors and instead categorized as employees. This question can only be answered by the National Labor Relations Board.

They would no longer be independent contractors if unionized. Technically, I am employed by a Pipefitters Union but they are not the ones that pay me. The contractor does. The fighters union, I would imagine, wpuld operate the same way. Their retirements, insurance and other bennys would be negotiated through their union but WME/UFC would still be writing the checks. It is nearly impossible to organize a fighters union. Why would Conor McGregor give a shit if Tonya Evinger is getting screwed? The guys at the top would have to stand with the guys at the bottom in solidarity and I don't see that happening unless a new, competitive org arrives and offers union options from day one.
 
They would no longer be independent contractors if unionized. Technically, I am employed by a Pipefitters Union but they are not the ones that pay me. The contractor does. The fighters union, I would imagine, wpuld operate the same way. Their retirements, insurance and other bennys would be negotiated through their union but WME/UFC would still be writing the checks. It is nearly impossible to organize a fighters union. Why would Conor McGregor give a shit if Tonya Evinger is getting screwed? The guys at the top would have to stand with the guys at the bottom in solidarity and I don't see that happening unless a new, competitive org arrives and offers union options from day one.
I only post this video because the UFC uses the exact same pay structure as them (they copied a lot actually, but that's off topic), and this is why fighters at the top would be against unions:
 
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