More than 70 elected officials from around the U.S. have issued a letter to WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert and NBA commissioner Adam Silver in support of the league\u2019s players.<\/p>\n
According to Yahoo Sports<\/a>, the legislators, which includes\u00a0 New York City Democrat mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, urged the league \u201cto bargain in good faith to reach a fair CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) before it expires at the Oct. 31 deadline. The legislators represent seven WNBA markets.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe all want to be able to take in a full season, but we know that they deserve to get paid what they deserve to earn,\u201d said Tiffany Cab\u00e1n, a New York City council member who led the organizing effort.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt mirrors the fights that everyday working-class women are having every day when they\u2019re saying to their bosses: \u2018We need childcare. We need good health benefits. We need an environment that allows us to be present with our loved ones and values the labor that allows you all to make as much money as you do.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis new CBA deal is an opportunity to set the record straight that women are valuable workers who deserve to be paid accordingly and treated fairly,\u201d the legislators wrote.<\/p>\n The concern for the WNBA\u2019s CBA negotiations has grown since Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier blasted <\/a>Engelbert\u2019s leadership.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe have the best players in the world. We have the best fans in the world, but right now we have the worst leadership in the world. If I didn’t know exactly what the job entailed, maybe I wouldn’t feel this way, but unfortunately for them, I do,\u201d Collier said in an exit interview.<\/p>\n “I just got to the point where I was fed up,” Collier said. \u201cNo matter the consequences, I felt like it was something that needed to be done.”<\/p>\n During a recent conversation with former Vice President Kamala Harris on titled “A Day of Unreasonable Conversation,”<\/a> a one-day summit held annually in Los Angeles for activists, Collier reflected on her public stance.<\/p>\n “I never had planned to do that,” Collier said. “I am on the union for CBA negotiations … and for so long, I felt like I saw what was going on behind closed doors. For so long, we tried to have these conversations and move the needle. … And I saw nothing was changing.”<\/p>\n