A few quiet weeks had passed since the Women’s National Basketball Players Association and the WNBA decided to continue talks on the collective bargaining agreement. However, the union caused a stir on Thursday when it declared that its members had given the WNBPA executive committee permission to “call a strike when necessary” in the midst of ongoing talks.
The union claimed in a statement that the action was “unavoidable response to the state of negotiations with the WNBA and its teams.” Voting was done earlier this week, and the results were made public on Thursday.
As the deadline of January 9 approaches, ESPN examines the implications of the ruling and provides further information regarding the latest CBA negotiations.
This is not an immediate call for a strike, nor should it be interpreted as an intention to pursue one, as the announcement made on Thursday made clear. However, the seven players who comprise the WNBPA executive committee—Nneka Ogwumike, Kelsey Plum, Napheesa Collier, Breanna Stewart, Alysha Clark, Elizabeth Williams, and Brianna Turner—will now make that choice.
An “emphatic affirmation of the players’ confidence in their leadership and their unwavering solidarity against ongoing efforts to divide, conquer, and undervalue them,” according to the union, was demonstrated by the 93% of players who took part in the voting and the 98% who voted in favor.
