Sports Unions Work to Bolster International Labor Movement

The nation’s biggest sports unions are trying to extend their international influence to bolster a worldwide labor movement for professional athletes.

The Universal Declaration of Player Rights is meant to stem various human rights violations experienced by professional athletes worldwide. Issues range in severity from delayed salary payments to kidnapping, DeMaurice Smith, executive director of the NFL Players Association, told Bloomberg Law.

The Dec. 14 launch comes at a time of peak globalization but declining union power in the U.S.

Sports labor leaders representing professional basketball, soccer, hockey, and other players, met in Washington, D.C., to highlight the “humanity of ...