NBPA Files Unfair Labor Practices Complaint Against NBA

The NBPA yesterday filed an unfair labor practices complaint against the NBA, alleging among other things that the league was dealing directly with players and bypassing the union, as well as failing and refusing to provide relevant financial information requested by the union to understand its financial demands. "We have urged the Board to investigate this matter quickly and to seek an injunction against the NBA's unlawful bargaining practices and its unlawful lockout threat," the NBPA said in a statement. The NBA CBA expires on June 30. The charge, filed in the NLRB's N.Y. office, alleges that the NBA violated the National Labor Relations Act by "making harsh, inflexible, and grossly regressive 'takeaway' demands that the NBA knows are not acceptable to the Union and not supported by objective or reasonable factors or balanced by appropriate trade-offs." The charge also alleges that prior to and during the last six months, the NBA has been "repeatedly threatening to lock out Union-represented employees upon contract expiration regardless of negotiation status, without fear of a strike, based on a pretextual claim of financial weakness, and despite the foregoing bad-faith bargaining." The NBPA alleges the NBA has been making threats and demands that "are inherently destructive to the collective bargaining process and to employee rights, and that reflect the NBA’s hostility to that process and those rights and are intended to signal to Union-represented employees that back-and forth bargaining is futile” (Liz Mullen, SportsBusiness Journal).

DENIAL BY THE LEAGUE: The NBA responded yesterday by "denying the charges by the union." The league said, "There is no merit to the charge filed today by the Players Association with the National Labor Relations Board, as we have complied -- and will continue to comply -- with all of our obligations under the federal labor laws." A source said that the union's unfair labor practice charge comes after NBPA Exec Dir Billy Hunter was "furious following the most recent collective-bargaining proposal, in early May, when the league called for a $45-million 'hard' cap -- almost 25 percent lower than the current 'soft' cap -- with non-guaranteed contracts" (NEWSDAY, 5/25). Sources indicated that players "were so infuriated" by the owners' latest proposal that the union "would explore a variety of legal options before presenting another formal counterproposal." ESPN.com's Chris Sheridan noted the sides are scheduled to have another bargaining session next month, and yesterday's filing "marked a sharp turn in negotiating strategy after the sides had held several rounds of informal discussions over the past several weeks" (ESPN.com, 5/24).

HERE WE GO: In N.Y., Howard Beck notes this is "likely to be the first in a series of legal salvos as the NBA and the players association try to break a 16-month stalemate." With only five weeks until the CBA expires, there is "little hope on either side that a lockout can be avoided." But Tulane Univ. Dir of Sports Law Gabe Feldman said that the players' complaint with the NLRB is, "at least in part, an attempt to prevent the league from locking them out in July." Beck notes the "alternative would be for the union to decertify," and it has "laid the groundwork" to do so in the event of a lockout. If the players "win a favorable ruling from the NLRB, they might avoid that path." The "objective in both strategies is to force the league back to the negotiating table." Still, Feldman believes that the NLRB is unlikely to issue a ruling" before the CBA expires (N.Y. TIMES, 5/25).