WNBPA’s CBA talks with WNBA hold historic values from previous women-led strikes

The WNBPA’s current fight is “one that hails from a long lineage of women-led labor strikes and disputes” and, for the WNBA, it is “on one of the biggest public stages possible,” according to Stephanie Kaloi of FAST COMPANY. This is “hardly the first time” the 29-year-old league’s athletes have entered into a legal dispute with the league’s leadership. In fact, the first-ever CBA “nearly tore the league apart” — but “ultimately set the standard for women’s professional sports leagues.” Yet, today, players “remain embroiled in an extremely public, high-stakes fight; workers (in this case, players) are pushing back on a leadership they believe to be toxic.” Like generations of women who have “spearheaded” labor disputes in the past, the players “have to prove their own humanity to garner support.” Workers in other industries have “been forced to take drastic measures to get their needs met, too” as there were the dual SAG-AFTRA and Writers Guild of America Hollywood strikes in 2023. Like these labor disputes of the past, WNBA players are “pushing for the same goals so many workers everywhere want: higher pay, increased benefits, and protection from occupational hazards, like injuries on the court.” Kaloi: “it doesn’t typically pay to devalue workers and continue with toxic conditions. Over time, that erodes an organization from the inside out.” But players feel “within their rights to challenge any circumstances in which they don’t feel safe.” Many of the great labor advances in this country “started exactly that way” (FAST COMPANY, 11/19).