An unfair labour practice charge, placed before the National Labor Relations Board, asserts that the NBPA has failed to bargain in good faith by virtue of its “unlawful threats” to commence a sham "decertification" and an antitrust lawsuit challenging the NBA's lockout. Meanwhile, a federal lawsuit lodged in New York seeks to establish, among other things, that the lockout does not violate federal antitrust laws and that if the NBPA’s "decertification" were found to be lawful; all existing player contracts would become void and unenforceable.
"These claims were filed in an effort to eliminate the use of impermissible pressure tactics by the union which are impeding the parties' ability to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement," said NBA deputy commissioner and chief operating officer Adam Silver (pictured). "For the parties to reach agreement on a new CBA, the union must commit to the collective bargaining process fully and in good faith."
The claims come just a day after NBA officials and players' representatives met for the first time since the league declared a lockout on July 1. NBA owners, citing losses of US$300 million for the 2010-11 season and in excess of $1.5 billion over the six-year term of the recently completed collective bargaining agreement (CBA), are seeking significant reductions in player compensation. A hard salary cap, shorter contracts and a major shift in the split of basketball-related income (BRI) is being sought. The previous CBA saw players receive 57% of league BRI, equating to $2.176 billion from the total of $3.8 billion for the past season.
Ahead of the lockout the NBPA reduced its counter proposal to 54.3%, the equivalent of $100 million per year of additional revenue to the owners over a five-year term. However, with NBA commissioner David Stern having warned that the league will make a $300 million loss in the 2010-11 season, the two sides were still $7 billion apart in their demands over a 10-year CBA.
NBPA executive director Billy Hunter has slammed the league’s latest move stating its actions "are just another example of their bad-faith bargaining, and we will seek the complete dismissal of the actions as they are totally without merit." Hunter added the union hasn’t made any decision about renouncing its role as the collective bargaining representative of the players. He said: "We urge the NBA to engage with us at the bargaining table and to use more productively the short time we have left before the 2011-2012 season is seriously jeopardised.”
