With one week to go until the league and its players reach the deadline to sign a new CBA, the members of the WNBPA have been aided in their efforts by powerful allies from around the United States. On Friday, October 24, more than 70 elected officials signed a letter in full support of the demands made by the WNBPA and the league's athletes.
Signatories to the letter include New York City Democrat mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani as well as longtime New York Liberty fan New York City council member Tiffany Cabán, who spoke to The Athletic about how the WNBA players' fight mirrors that of other labor disputes in the US.
As she put it, "It mirrors the fights that everyday working-class women are having every day when they’re saying to their bosses: ‘We need childcare. We need good health benefits. We need an environment that allows us to be present with our loved ones and values the labor that allows you all to make as much money as you do.’"
The letter emphasized that message in part, and signatories wrote that this moment in CBA negotiations is "an opportunity to set the record straight that women are valuable workers who deserve to be paid accordingly and treated fairly."
The conversations surrounding a new CBA began last October, when players opted out of the agreement signed in January 2020. Since then interest from fans in the process has grown, and The Athletic noted that Google searches about the WNBA CBA reached a peak this summer during the All-Star Game, when players wore shirts that read, "Pay Us What You Owe Us" during warmups.
Since then, it's become increasingly clear that the two parties have struggled to meet in the middle over the terms laid out by both. Players are arguing for increased revenue sharing as well as better benefits, including maternity and childcare, on top of other concerns. WNBA leadership has claimed to have offered at least one deal that players rejected, and the role of NBA Commissioner Adam Silver in the process has not been fully examined.
If the two parties fail to sign a new CBA by the end of the month, they will likely enter into extended conversations — a reality that threatens the expansion drafts of both the Toronto Tempo and the Portland Fire, could delay a period of free agency in 2026 in which nearly the entire league will be available, and might possibly even push back the 2026 WNBA Draft.