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Biggest US Pro Women’s Sports Unions Are Working Together To Achieve Success And Progress

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The unions for the National Women’s Soccer League and Women’s National Basketball Association are teaming up to create collective action to find success. Back in July, the WNBA participants in the All-Star Game all wore shirts reading “Pay You What You Owe Us,” and now that message is continuing to be amplified through collaborative efforts between the two unions. 

“When you’re fighting for something historic, something that has never been done before, it cannot happen in a vacuum,” said Erin D Drake, the WNBPA’s senior advisor and legal counsel who was also credited for the shirt campaign, according to the Guardian. 

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The shirts were later made available online for purchase, and quickly after the WNBPA’s soccer counterparts were participating in the action. 

“Most of our staff had already gone on the website and purchased the shirts themselves,” said Tori Huster, the deputy executive director of the National Women’s Soccer League Players’ Association (NWSLPA).

The NWSLPA amplified images of the players who got the shirts. Hopkins stated that this was a major moment for women athletes all throughout the United States. 

“It’s not just female athletes in the W that are experiencing this. It’s a message to send for virtually every female athlete across the United States in whatever league it may be that we deserve pay.”

“We’re always in constant support of each other. Wearing the t-shirts was just an expression of that relationship,” Hopkins said.

The WNBPA was founded in 1998 and set a major precedent for advocacy in women’s sports. WNBA players have also spoken out against racist systems, police violence, discrimination against the LGBT+ community, and many other polarizing social issues. In many ways, they set the tone for the NWSLPA, which was founded in 2017, to be the same force.

“Their collective action, their advocacy, for sure has been a shining example of what we aspire to be,” Huster said.

“When the NWSLPA was in its infancy, its leaders were like, Googling what labor unions were,” said Huster. 

Meghann Burke is the organization’s executive director, and was the only full-time staff member at the beginning. Her relationship with her WNBPA counterpart Terri Carmichael Jackson was the main connector between the two unions. 

“There’s probably not a month that goes by without Erin and I communicating about something,” Huster said.

“Over time, as our union has grown in strength, that’s become a relationship of reciprocity and mutuality,” Burke said.

“Terri was really important to us in course-correcting the league and creating a new standard for player safety in the NWSL,” said Burke.

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“It’s a tactic to be divided. It’s a tactic to feel in isolation when you are trying to assert your value and your worth. Both the WNBPA and NWSLPA reject that tactic.” Drake said. “Our orientation to the issues that affect workers is certainly grounded in our experience as women,” said Burke.

Both unions have fought for ensuring protections for mothers, overcoming underinvestment when compared to the male leagues, and securing proper healthy working environments. 

“Anytime you have an emerging league, a newer league, it’s more challenging, and by definition, the union is going to have typically less strength and a more difficult time. [That] is why it’s especially important now for these two unions to collaborate and to assist each other,” said Nellie Drew, a professor in sports law at the University at Buffalo School of Law. 

The two unions recently issued a joint statement which opposes federal immigration raids after WNBPA members requested their union speak out. 

“All of our statements – all of them – come from our player leadership. It was clear through conversations that NWSLPA members were having similar observations,” Drake said. 

The WNBPA then invited the NWSLPA to be a part of the statement, and they immediately accepted. Both unions have become powerhouses independently, and together, and are working on the greater purpose of getting better working conditions while using their platforms to speak up on political issues. 

“We can see the NWSLPA standing with the WNBPA during this contract fight because they know what it means to fight for respect on the job, for fair pay, and for a share in the massive profit their labor generates,” said Liz Shuler, the president of the AFL-CIO.

The AFL-CIO Sports Council is a group of players’ unions that is within the largest federation of labor unions in the United States.

“We’ve always been here, and now everyone’s kind of just catching on, and we’re not just gonna be grateful for the quote unquote momentum, but continuing to build off of us to work towards what we know we deserve and have always deserved,” Hopkins stated. 

“It’s just now there’s eyes on us – about damn time.”

World with Mask

World Leaders Come Together And Call For Pandemic Treaty 

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Global leaders have joined together to call for a new treaty that would aim to help the world prepare for future pandemics. The call to action comes with a warning as leaders are concerned with the rising vaccine nationalism that wealthier countries are expressing while they hoard the patents for Covid-19 vaccines. 

More than 20 national leaders wrote a piece that was published to several media outlets this week. The leaders included France’s Emmanuel Macron, Britain’s Boris Johnson and Germany’s Angela Merkel, all of which expressed that the idea of another pandemic isn’t a question of “if” but “when,” so the world needs to unite to be prepared. 

The overall message of the piece is calling for a greater sense of unity among world leaders as they battle future viruses. Countries need to avoid having nationalistic attitudes due to the fact that at the end of the day, we’re all struggling, people are dying and getting sick everywhere, so we have to come together and co-operate with each other. 

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“There will be other pandemics and other major health emergencies. No single government or multilateral agency can address this threat alone. The question is not if, but when.”

The warning comes as a multitude of countries continue to block the trading of vaccine supplies and patents from other lesser developed countries. The European Union and the UK have been in a battle over AstraZeneca’s contract to supply their shot due to the fact that some EU member states have expressed constantly that they oppose the trading bloc’s put in place with the vaccine. 

World Health Organization chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, had previously warned about the concept of “vaccine nationalism” and the type of damage it could do; including delaying the end to the pandemic itself. 

“We are committed to ensuring universal and equitable access to safe, efficacious and affordable vaccines, medicines and diagnostics for this and future pandemics. We believe that nations should work together towards a new international treaty for pandemic preparedness and response,” the leaders stated. 

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The leaders of the US, China, and Russia did not put their names on the piece; they’re also the main countries that are under fire for expressing vaccine nationalism since the first shot was approved. Tedros, however, claims that all WHO member states will be included in future discussions of an international pandemic treaty. 

“The open letter is being signed on an opt-in basis, but when the discussion on the pandemic treaty really begins all member states will be represented and included in those conversations,” Tedros explained. 

“There is quite significant support, not just through the op-ed but also through bilateral contact that we have with all of the nations across the world, including nations that did not sign this op-ed, but which are reacting quite positively to the idea,” President of the European Council, Charles Michel, said. 

Worldwide, there have been more than 127 million Covid-19 cases, and more than 2.7 million people have died. The articles calling for unity come after a multitude of surges appear throughout the world.

Protest Hong Kong

Hong Kong Protests Escalate, Threatening Society

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The pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong have only grown more intense as time has progressed, despite the introduction of measures designed to curb frequent and massive demonstrations such as the withdrawal of a bill that would have allowed extradition of political dissidents to China and the instatement of a face-mask ban and curfews designed to discourage dissent. While the loosely-organized but nonetheless formidable protestors remained non-violent for several months, recent escalations by both demonstrators and police have led to the development of a more dangerous and confrontational relationship between the two, with no signs of de-escalation anytime soon. In fact, the situation has become so precarious that Hong Kong police worry about the impending collapse of the rule of law, particularly in the aftermath of the shooting of one protestor and the setting on fire of a supporter of Beijing on Monday.

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After five months of intense protests and the ongoing failure of the Hong Kong government to satisfy most of the protestors’ demands, demonstrators remain unrelenting despite growing increasingly frustrated with government inaction, creating an environment more hospitable to violence and other anti-social behavior. As the protests went on, police resorted to increasingly-violent counter-protest strategies, deploying tear gas and using water cannons and rubber bullets against demonstrators who threw bricks and molotov cocktails, destroying property. October 1st of this year marked a turning point in the use of violence against protestors in Hong Kong, as police shot an 18-year old protestor in the chest at point-blank range, leaving him in critical condition. 

As neither demonstrators nor the government seem willing to compromise or relent, the ongoing intense protests are bound to gradually erode Hong Kong society for as long as they continue.

Yesterday, police again used live rounds against a protestor, firing at point-blank range in an area where demonstrators were blocking traffic, after which police deployed pepper spray to disperse protestors as onlookers accused them of murder. In a separate, unrelated incident yesterday, protesters doused a man who was criticizing the protests with gasoline and lit him on fire. Both individuals survived the attacks and are being treated in hospitals, in serious condition. The city’s chief executive, Carrie Lam, has been ramping up her rhetoric against the protests, warning that they could “take Hong Kong to the road of ruin” and placing blame squarely on pro-democracy advocates, calling them “the enemy of the people” and accusing them of selfishly paralyzing the city. She added that she thought it was extremely unlikely that more protests would lead to further concessions from the government. In addition to physical violence, the unrest has included property destruction, as protestors have swarmed universities, destroying windows and fixtures by throwing bricks and setting things on fire. Throughout Hong Kong, classes at many universities were canceled as officials grappled with repairing the damage and preparing for future unrest.

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Nine people have committed suicide in connection with the protests, as political frustration and the erosion of democratic norms have caused mental health issues among Hong Kong’s youth, many of whom are deeply politically engaged. In addition, a man died after sustaining serious injuries during a fall in a car park where police were using tear gas to break up protests. Though no one has yet been directly killed by police or protestors, further deaths are all but inevitable as long as protests continue. Police say that in the last week they have arrested 266 people in connection with the protests, and as the number of active protesters is estimated to be in the millions, the number of arrests is sure to climb. Furthermore, months of protests have had a destructive effect on Hong Kong’s tourism industry and economy more broadly, as the once-safe city is now subject to frequent, violent interruptions to everyday life, and critical city infrastructure remains in a state of disrepair. 

Hong Kong is scheduled to hold local elections this month. Due to Hong Kong’s political structure, however, the outcome of these elections are unlikely to have a strong impact on the government, and are especially unlikely to appease protestors. As neither demonstrators nor the government seem willing to compromise or relent, the ongoing intense protests are bound to gradually erode Hong Kong society for as long as they continue.