A new union representing the athletes competing in Olympic sports has launched employment proceedings against High Performance Sport NZ.

This group, The Athletes’ Cooperative, was established in June of this year and it represents several former Olympic cyclists and rowers, two sports New Zealand does well at in the Olympics.

This group is asking the Employment Relations court to recognise that these union members are employees of High Performance Sport, and that they should get all the benefits collective bargaining allows.

Mahe Drysdale, Olympic rower and co-chair of this union says that the athletes should get a seat at the table when it comes to negotiating fair and equitable treatment.

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