THE Rugby League Professionals Association yesterday applied to deregister itself as a union in the Australian Industrial Relations Commission as part of a sweetheart deal with the NRL.
The Herald revealed in September 2006 that the board of the RLPA was seeking to give up its independence and become an association totally funded and ultimately controlled financially by the NRL.
The former head of the Association of Rugby League Professionals, Kevin Ryan, said deregistration would be tantamount to the RLPA "castrating themselves".
But when the issue was put to members in a postal vote last June, 40 players, the majority from just two clubs, opted for union de-registration. Only four voted against the proposal. The RLPA has more than 360 rugby league players eligible to vote.
The commission will consider any objections in the next 28 days before formally cancelling the RLPA's union status.
RLPA chief executive Matt Rodwell struck a deal for the body to become an association with the NRL last year. The NRL is half-owned by News Limited.
Under the terms of that deal, the NRL will provide the RLPA with $320,000 every year - $20,000 for each club to be included under their salary caps.
"We are very much independent, it is a total inaccuracy and misconception that the RLPA would lose its independence," Rodwell told the Herald. "Being a non-union doesn't prevent us from striking, and there are means and ways the players can take action."
Rodwell added that after the union's deregistration, the RLPA would share the same model as the AFL Players' Association, which receives $11 million a year from the AFL.
Tony Butterfield, a former chief executive of the RLPA, said deregistration would remove the body's right to good-faith bargaining, and the freedom to consult players and represent them in courts and tribunals.
"The RLPA will be like Oliver Twist. At the end of each year, it will have to front up, bowl empty, and ask of its NRL master, 'Please sir, I want some more,"' Butterfield said. "This is hardly conducive to developing a strong and independent voice for players."
