BREAKING NEWS: The lockout just got a little more ugly. In a press release this morning, it was announced the NBA filed two claims against the National Basketball Players Association. One was an unfair labor practice, the other a federal lawsuit.
“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,” NBA Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer Adam Silver said in the release. “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 unfair labor practice claim charges that the NBPA wasn’t dealing in good faith because of its unlawful threats to start a sham “decertification” and an antitrust lawsuit challenging the NBA’s lockout. The federal lawsuit is meant to establish that the NBA’s lockout doesn’t violate federal antitrust laws, and also if the NBPA’s “decertification” was accepted, all existing player contracts would become void and unenforceable.
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