Talks between players union and owners set to resume on Monday – NBA Labour Dispute Update
The NBA and its basketball players have agreed to come back to the negotiating table on Monday in an effort to find a solution to the ongoing labour dispute. There have been no talks between the two parties since the league imposed
a lockout on the 1st of July.
The dispute revolves around the formulating of a new Collective Bargaining Agreement since the old one expired on June 30, 2011. It is pertinent to mention here that the previous CBA itself was only agreed in 1998, after the NBA
games were lost for the first time in history due to the gap in demands of both sides.
That gap seems even wider this time around. The owners have made very steep demands from the players in the new CBA discussions. Until June 30, the players were entitled to get 57 percent of the BRI. BRI stand for Basketball Related
Income, which basically covers pretty much all the revenue generated through basketball, including the broadcasting deals, merchandise sales and ticket prices.
The owners want to redefine what BRI stands for and then to limit the amount the players can make. The fact that the players are supposed to take a lesser percentage of an entity already cut down in size has understandably irked
the National Basketball Players Association.
The NBPA, in the last meetings before the lockout, agreed to lower its share of the BRI to around 54 percent. The players have also alleged that the owners proposal will see that figure do down to around 40 percent, not to mention
other constraints such as the hard salary cap.
Since the lockout began, both sides have stuck to their demands. However, the fact that they have decided to sit down and talk again is seen by a positive by many analysts, the last time the sides took much longer to come back
to the negotiating table.
NBPA President Derek Fisher, a veteran point guard of the Los Angeles Lakers, and Executive Director Billy Hunter will be the prominent figures present at the meeting on Monday from the players side. NBA Commissioner David Stern
and Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver will represent the league while the head of the owners negotiating committee Peter Holt will also be present.
If the owners do not show flexibility in their stance to the players, and fast, the matter could deteriorate further. The NBPA has already filed a complaint with the National Labour Relations Board for unfair bargaining practices
by the NBA and is awaiting judgement.
On the other hand, many agents and the NBPA legal counsel are urging the union to decertify so that the players can take the league to court.
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