A Global Game

Indeed, since the setting up of the Premier League in 1992, the influx of foreign players has been considerable with over 60% of these players coming from abroad at present. This has occurred without any real opposition in football, whereas in other industries this kind of foreign worker influx has created tension & conflict.

The implications of such strife impacts heavily on Trade Unions and puts them in the invidious position of not wanting to pander to xenophobic tendencies whilst at the same time coming under pressure to support British workers at the expense of foreign workers.

The PFA response to these issues is to treat foreign players in exactly the same way as we treat our English players and have no distinction between the two. We extend the same rights and benefits to all our members whether they are born in Liverpool or Lagos, Portsmouth or Paris, Manchester or Milan.

Furthermore we were instrumental in setting up FIFPRO, the international players union and as a result have strong links with our sister players unions around the world.

This bond provides security to players when moving from club to club internationally and ensures that they receive strong representation and support wherever their football career takes them. A French player moving from Barcelona to Chelsea for example will have been a member of the Spanish Players Union and will now join the PFA. 

This happens seamlessly in football but sadly not in other industries. Surely, the important point is that players or workers are supported by a Trade Union whatever their nationality and fundamental areas such as pay and conditions and health and safety should take priority over what it says on your birth certificate.

The experience that we have found from our overseas members is that they are very supportive of the union and indeed a number of these players have become PFA Delegates or Shop Stewards.

We have Kolo Toure at Arsenal, Brede Hangeland at Fulham, Hermann Hreidarsson at Portsmouth and Marcus Hahnemann at Reading among others. They all recognise the great work that the union undertakes on behalf of all players from bottom club Luton right up to the top at Manchester United.

They understand that the drop out rate from professional football is very high and know that their union is providing support and assistance not just whilst you are playing but for a lifetime after if you need it.  

There is this solidarity in football where players at the top do not ignore or dismiss the difficulties their PFA colleagues face lower down. Indeed, during our funding dispute with the Premier League a few years ago, every Premier League player voted to strike if necessary over the money needed ostensibly to help players in the lower leagues.

There is also a great camaraderie in the game that does not consider it important where a player comes from or their background or ethnicity. The main thing is that the team stays united and fights for each other to achieve a common goal. That is after all what Trade Unions are about and is central to everything we do at the PFA.

Moreover, the PFA being the player’s greatest voice, champions these values and is proud of our diversity and support to players at all levels and nationalities. This is recognised by our overseas members and is why we have 100% membership and players such as Christiano Ronaldo and Didier Drogba are paid up members of the union.  

To sum up, everyone in this room endorses the view that Trade Unions are a great force for good in society. The Trade Union Movement has always fought to make the world more equitable and has played a huge role in giving ordinary people rights and freedoms that are essential in any civilized society.

As we face very testing times with mass unemployment and fears of depression on people’s minds, Trade Unions must stand up strongly for our own and drive the message home that it is ordinary working people and their hard work that have in the past and will in the future take this country and that of other countries forward.

The PFA has always believed that unions working together across borders and welcoming overseas workers into the fold is the right way to go. Unions in partnership with governments do have a major role to play in formulating and implementing the kind of changes that are desperately needed to pull us out of this economic downturn.  

This crisis is indeed one of global proportions and requires that everyone, whatever country you come from, works together for the common good and unions like the PFA with its diverse membership and links to other players unions around the world sets a great example which others would do well to follow. 

From Nick Cusack's speech to the Unions 21 Annual Conference in March 2009