There haven’t been many WNBA Collective Bargaining Settlement updates over the previous week, as the vacations have been in full swing, however certainly work is happening behind the scenes because the Jan. 9 deadline approaches. With the explosive development of the WNBA over the previous couple of years, this can be the primary time many more recent followers are witnessing a CBA negotiation course of in actual time, and it may be complicated.
Clearly, labor actions and negotiations are an enormous a part of human historical past, and the one the WNBA is doing proper now could appear trivial, and a few could say “it’s simply sports activities.” But, given the turning level in historical past we appear to be at proper now, with the expansion of girls’s sports activities and in addition being at such a divisive interval in society, this negotiation additionally appears like greater than only a recreation.
For possibly the primary time within the WNBA’s 30-year historical past, it’s the gamers who’ve nearly all of leverage right here, they usually get to name much more pictures than in negotiations previous. It’s a time for them to demand issues that haven’t been necessary within the league traditionally; to get themselves on top of things with different skilled leagues, as a result of there are nonetheless so some ways by which these gamers aren’t handled like true professionals.
The wage and income proposals are one factor, however there are a lot of different gadgets on the negotiation desk as properly. This battle is about greater than income sharing and basketball-related revenue: these gamers are combating to be handled like valued, human staff who deserve among the advantages of the product they create, and never simply replaceable drones who must be glad to be there.
That will probably be necessary to recollect within the coming weeks when they are going to be reprimanded for being “spoiled” as a result of individuals suppose their sole cause for shutting down proposals from the league is as a result of they aren’t providing sufficient cash individually, as a result of this battle is about greater than anybody participant, it’s about setting a precedent for the way they may all be handled for years to come back.
It’s solely been up to now 5 years that WNBA crew possession teams have begun to supply WNBA gamers with issues like state-of-the-art, personal, and devoted observe and remedy amenities. For instance, there has by no means been a rule within the contract between the league and the gamers that requires groups to have personnel like bodily therapists, athletic trainers, and crew physicians on workers. For skilled athletes. Think about the most important WNBA stars having to go to their native bodily remedy workplace on their very own dime as a substitute of being handled by the perfect, most specialised ladies’s basketball trainers and therapeutic massage therapists in a devoted facility, and also you get a way of what gamers have been coping with whereas being anticipated to create the perfect ladies’s basketball product on the earth.
That’s one thing the gamers are combating for in these negotiations. It’s not only for restoration functions, however damage prevention as properly. Having athletic trainers and different comparable well being and efficiency professionals on workers to have the ability to get to know gamers, their histories, and their tendencies will assist them be capable of forestall damage. If the league is asking gamers to extend the variety of video games, the frequency of video games, and the season size, they must be offering the right healthcare to maintain them wholesome as properly.
The gamers additionally need to put into writing that this new pattern of observe amenities, devoted locker rooms, and facilities can also be a requirement for groups.
A whole lot of skilled leagues have retirement advantages for his or her gamers that span a sure period of time after they end enjoying their sport. It’s onerous, in fact, as a result of athletes don’t have the identical retirement timeline as non-athletic careers. An athlete can retire earlier than they flip 30, whereas most individuals aren’t enthusiastic about that till they’re nearer to 60.
In some circumstances, just like the NFL, leagues will preserve retired gamers beneath league insurance coverage for about 5 years after they end enjoying. Kind of to provide them time to both work out different insurance coverage or settle into their subsequent profession, hopefully. The WNBA doesn’t have something like that.
So now, a proposal in these present negotiations is to construct out some retirement advantages for the league. Not only for gamers who’re at present enjoying, however with the concept that beforehand retired gamers could get a little bit of again pay or help to assist them out. The best way they’re proposing it really works is that gamers who’ve had a specific amount of expertise within the league will probably be given a one-time imbursement, per The Athletic.
Safety and Psychological Well being
With the sudden improve within the WNBA’s reputation, safety has change into a problem. It’s a giant cause that the chartered flights program was rushed in through the 2024 season. Having a participant with the superstar standing that say, Cailtin Clark has, strolling round an airport with restricted safety wasn’t a superb look. It was additionally extremely unsafe.
Nonetheless, the WNBA solely has the requirement that every crew have one safety guard. Gamers have their very own private safety as properly, like Clark and A’ja Wilson. The gamers are proposing that every crew be required to have two crew safety guards on workers.
One other a part of the proposed advantages bundle is a $500 per thirty days reimbursement for psychological well being providers, one thing that doesn’t at present exist. One other impact of this massive increase of the league has been the consequences on participant psychological well being, the strain from followers, and the toxicity that has appeared to infiltrate the league in recent times. Add on the common struggles of being knowledgeable athlete, and every little thing occurring on the earth, and the least the league can do is add psychological well being advantages into their CBA.
Hopefully, we get a standing replace on these negotiation factors (and every little thing else the gamers are combating for) this week. The battle the gamers are in proper now’s about extra than simply the way forward for the WNBA (although that’s at stake, as properly); it’s about legitimizing the expansion of girls’s sports activities, treating ladies’s athletes like true professionals, and bridging the big hole between the best way the perfect women and men of their fields are handled just a bit extra.
