Violation of Employee Rights and Unionization From the Perspective of Non-Unionized Basketball Players

Can Çavin Ötkan and Tekin Çolakoğlu

SAGE Open, 2025, vol. 15, issue 1, 21582440251323663

Abstract: The research aims to uncover the violation of employment rights of professional basketball players, their experiences related to legal proceedings resulting from this, and their views on unionization. In this regard, a basic qualitative research design was preferred. The respondents were 42 Turkish basketball players in the Turkish professional basketball leagues, selected through criterion sampling. A semi-structured interview schedule was used as the data collection tool. Individual interviews and focus group discussions were utilized during the data collection process. Qualitative content analysis was applied in the data analysis process. The findings are divided into three themes: violation of employee rights, legal process, the unionization idea. Under the theme of employee rights violation: there are categories such as violation of the remuneration right, disregard for the athlete and discrimination. The legal process theme consists of two categories: reasons to avoid the legal process and reasons for taking legal action. The theme of the unionization idea is divided into two categories: positive opinions and negative opinions. Respondents’ employment rights were found to be violated. Due to the pressure exerted by employers on athletes, respondents are hesitant to take legal action and unionize for fear of being subjected to mobbing. It has been concluded that unionization is not possible due to the lack of solidarity among professional basketball players. However, if it were to happen, it would increase solidarity and eliminate the power imbalance between employees and employers.

Keywords: employee rights; legal process; unionization; players association; Turkish basketball (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:sagope:v:15:y:2025:i:1:p:21582440251323663

DOI: 10.1177/21582440251323663

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