WNBA Big Names Climb Over Lockout Logjam in Record Time!
NEW YORK — After more than a year of tumultuous negotiations, more than a week of nearly nonstop discussions, and another day of talks that stretched into the early morning, the WNBA and its players union reached a verbal agreement on the terms of a new collective bargaining agreement. The league and the WNBPA finally reached a deal after 2 a. m.
Wednesday here to move forward with a new pact that will redefine the economic and governing rules of the WNBA going forward. The agreement, Breanna Stewart said, will be “transformational” for the league and its players. Though there is an agreement in place, it still must be formalized into a term sheet and approved by the players and the league’s board of governors.
The details of the agreement are still not known. Still, there was celebration in the early morning in midtown New York. After months spent far apart in nearly every way, league staff, including WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert, WNBPA leadership, and members of the union’s executive committee came together early Wednesday morning in a conference room at the Langham hotel and toasted with glasses of champagne.
Finally, the WNBA has peace again. “It’s been obviously a process, but we’re very proud to be leading in women’s sports,” Engelbert said. “In our time as a league that is evolving, as a union that is evolving, this is historical for women’s sports,” said WNBAPA president Nneka Ogwumike.
“I told Cathy, it’s not just for the players that are entering the league or the players that aren’t already here, but it’s the ones that are standing next to next to her and beside her. And so we’re just really grateful to be able to come to a deal. ” “This deal is going to be transformational, and you’ll see all the details hopefully soon, but it’s gonna build and help create a system where everybody is getting exactly what they deserve and more from on the court and off the court aspects,” Stewart said.
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