NBA officials and players’ union set to meet federal mediator – Labour Dispute Update
The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association will continue their dialogue over the labour dispute with a federal mediator from now onward. The Executive Director of National Basketball Player Association (NBPA), Billy
Hunter, confirmed on Wednesday, October 12, that the two sides had agreed to meet a mediator next week.
George Cohen, director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service and the man slated for the role, also told the Associated Press that he has been in contact with both parties for some time. He will be overseeing negotiations
between the NBA and the union from now on.
The first meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, in New York, which has been the home of the labour talks so far.
Just this Monday, players and owners met in a 7 hour session that produced no positive result. After the meeting ended NBA Commissioner David Stern announced the cancellation of 100 NBA games that were scheduled to be played from
November 1st to November 14th.
The two sides have been embroiled in the dispute for years and began formal talks on the matter early last year. The dispute around a new CBA has so far left both sides frustrated, and they had already taken to other avenues, before
agreeing to see a mediator.
The NBPA filed a complaint against the NBA owners with the National Labour Relations Board (NLRB) and so did the league, which also filed a lawsuit against the union in a federal court for negotiating in bad faith.
The NLRB has been on the case for around 5 months, but has declined to disclose so far what their investigations have found. The board’s New York office has sent recommendations over the case to Washington D.C., but those too have
been kept under wraps.
The NLRB have significant power and if they decide to move, the lockout could be over in a hurry. The board can send a recommendation to a judge, asking him to end the lockout immediately. They could also force the NBA and NBPA
to sit down and come up with a solution within 48 hours.
The NBPA certainly feel comfortable with their stance and have expressed optimism with regard to the NLRB.
"They [the NLRB] have had our charge for four months," said attorney Lawrence Katz, the union's lead lawyer on the NLRB filing. "They've fully investigated it. They haven't asked us to withdraw the complaint. And that gives us
a certain amount of confidence."
With George Cohen now on the case as mediator, things might still be settled out of court though. Cohen took charge of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service in 2009 and has since helped solve the labour crisis in Major
League Soccer (MLS). He was able to end the dispute before the season began that time and is thought to be the best person for the job.
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