WNBA solidarity crew| AFL-CIO
WASHINGTON—With playoffs underway and an October 31 deadline looming on their expiring contract, the Women’s National Basketball Players Association marshalled AFL-CIO and congressional support to get stalled negotiations moving again.
The Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) playoffs began Sept. 14 and are scheduled to end by October 17. Robust ticket sales are enriching the team’s owners, but the players are left behind.
They are working for a new contract before the deadline of October 31, and fans have joined the labor movement in backing them up.
The Dallas Wings ended their season with a brilliant 97-76 win over the Phoenix Mercury in Arlington, Texas, Sept. 11. The Players Association saw some of labor’s solidarity as AFL-CIO members and supporters from two counties rallied outside the stadium and led chants of “Pay the Players” during the game
They wore shirts that said “Pay them what you owe them.” The solidarity actions were covered by KERA and KNON radio stations, NBC and CBS TV, and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Tevita Uhutafe and Pauline Mims of the Tarrant Central Labor Council gave rousing talks and organized chants. They said that none of the increasing revenues from women’s basketball is going to the players.
The Wings franchise has grown in value to $250 million. Ana Gonzales of the Texas AFL-CIO, working with the Players Association, organized the event. About half the turnout came from the Dallas-Fort Worth retiree and Young Active Labor Leaders constituency groups.
Pay is the key issue for the players of the rapidly growing league, whose popularity, crowds and—now—its television contract have zoomed in the past few years. But the owners are getting almost all the benefit, and that’s not right, the players, AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler, and the lawmakers say.
“They are standing up for all working people,” Shuler told a September 10 press conference. The 85-member House Democratic Women’s Caucus called to publicize their supportive letter for the players, sent to Women’s National Basketball Association Commissioner Cathy Engelbert.
“This fight is about economic fairness and dignity and respect on the job,” Shuler said.
Tarrant County Labor Council President Tevita Uhutafe is addressing labor solidarity activists| Gene Lantz
Fueled by the national name recognition of sharpshooter Caitlin Clark—who draws capacity crowds everywhere—and rivalries between now-popular teams, the WNBA just signed an 11-year $2.2 billion television contract.
Puts money in owner pockets
That puts so much money in owners’ pockets that the players, whose performances on the court—and activism off of it—produce that interest and that cash, want an equal share of the take, just like their male counterparts in the National Basketball Association. They now get 9%, Rep. Julie Johnson, D-Texas, said.
The women took their cause public during the now-concluding regular season, marching onto courts nationwide in mid-August wearing uniform tops reading “Pay us what you owe us!” The letter and press conference about the stalled talks were their next step.
“The gap between franchise profit and player pay is drastic. Players drive the league’s success, yet owners walk away with most of the financial rewards,” the lawmakers wrote. “The WNBPA is seeking a new agreement that aligns player salaries with the league’s growing financial success.”
The lawmakers also called the negotiations “historic.” They reminded Engelbert that the talks are occurring when “women are under constant attack right now.” The letter does not specify who’s attacking women’s pay and rights, but the answer is in daily headlines involving the GOP Trump regime and its attack on workers—especially female workers.
“The gender wage gap widened for the first time in 20 years. Women are leaving the workforce rapidly. This 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.”
The unions for both the female and male basketballers are in the AFL-CIO and its recently formed sports union caucuses. The men’s NBA Players Association also supports the women’s cause. Their members get approximately 50% of all revenues flowing into that league, including money from endorsements and sponsorships.
The female players get none of that outside revenue. They’re also recipients of condescension. “Most of the people in the league office believe we don’t understand” the economics of the two leagues, whose staffs in New York are still intertwined, said Women’s National Basketball Players Association President Nneka Ogwumike.
Those economics have skyrocketed, with WNBA franchises now worth tens of millions of dollars each, and with net league revenues, from all of its teams, rising from a combined $102 million in 2019 to $119 million in 2023.
“Given it is the policy of the United States to facilitate collective bargaining under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), we urge you to bargain in good faith to reach a fair CBA in a timely manner before the October 31 deadline,” the 85 female lawmakers wrote Engelbert.
The players’ union sent a first proposal to the WNBA in February, and a follow-up reminder in the spring, but got no response until June, the solons said. The two sides met in July in Indianapolis and offered a first proposal. But it was a wasted opportunity with both parties remaining very far apart on even preliminary discussions.
“As firm believers that women workers deserve to be properly compensated, we are concerned about the WNBA’s delayed response, differing accounts on the status of negotiations, and that the needs of players are not being fully addressed…Reports suggest this offer” in July “falls short of players’ demands, especially regarding revenue sharing and salaries.”
“We have to remind them that the world is watching and of the duty to bargain in good faith,” said the women’s caucus’s spokeswoman at the press conference. Besides, added Rep. Angie Clark, DFL-Minn., the women players “put in much more work than the men.”
We hope you appreciated this article. At People’s World, we believe news and information should be free and accessible to all, but we need your help. Our journalism is free of corporate influence and paywalls because we are totally reader-supported. Only you, our readers and supporters, make this possible. If you enjoy reading People’s World and the stories we bring you, please support our work by donating or becoming a monthly sustainer today. Thank you!
CONTRIBUTOR
