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Union See Link To NHL Lockout
November 29, 1998
Union Sees Link to N.H.L. Lockout
By SELENA ROBERTS
There was name-calling and bitter mistrust and times
when the two sides would sulk in silence. There
were concerns about fan alienation and irreparable
rifts, and moments when the season looked lost.
This scene does not refer to the National Basketball
Association's current lockout, but to the labor strife
that nearly resulted in the cancellation of the
National Hockey League's 1994-95 season. In the end,
after a grueling and emotional 48-hour session to save
the season as the fail-safe deadline passed, the
insults that had been aimed at one another for five
months were no more fatal than shots fired in a game of
paint ball. Just colorful rhetoric for the sake of one
contentious game: labor negotiations.
To some in the National Basketball Players Association,
the course the NHL took in ending its lockout and
reaching an 11th-hour agreement with its players in
January 1995 has provided a blueprint for the NBA.
"It's beginning to play out that way," said one union
official, speaking on the condition of anonymity. "I
don't think it's a coincidence."
One main reason for the union's suspicion lies in the
relationship between NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and
NBA commissioner David Stern. For years, Stern was
Bettman's mentor in the NBA. Then Bettman departed the
league five years ago with some of what he had gleaned
from Stern.
Suddenly, Bettman was off to put the NHL on the pop
charts. Two years later, a grim lockout left wounds on
both sides, but ended under an ultimatum: Get an
agreement or else the season is canceled. Under that
pressure, a deal was struck that left both sides
relieved, but was viewed to favor the owners.
"The owners moved inches, and we moved football
fields," defenseman Tommy Albelin said when the deal
was agreed to on the 103rd day of the NHL lockout, Jan.
11, 1995.
So far, as the NBA lockout moves into its 152nd day
Sunday, Stern has refused to set a deadline, which
union officials have been asking for in recent weeks in
order to know what they are up against.
While there is no deadline yet, there are notable
similarities in the issues that faced the NHL and now
the NBA. What to do with the season? After its lockout
ended, the NHL put into motion a 48-game reduced
schedule and lengthened the regular season. The NBA has
discussed a similar scenario. How long can the current
stalemate last? In the NHL, a month of silence passed
between a Dec. 6 meeting and the ones leading to a
settlement in January. The last bargaining session in
the NBA was 10 days ago, with no new meetings
scheduled. How do the players feel? As with the NHL,
the players in the NBA have an attitude reflective of
Albelin's.
"Our players feel like we have given up too much
already," said a union spokesman, Dan Wasserman. "They
keep giving and giving."
So far, the players have offered the following: a
decrease in the maximum raise on multiyear contracts to
10 percent from 20 percent, a fourth year to the rookie
wage scale, a luxury tax on superstars making $15
million salaries and an agreement on the framework of
an escrow plan.
But then something happened along the way to progress.
After a 10-hour session on Nov. 20, a couple of days
passed and a misunderstanding grew over what was agreed
to by the union. Suspecting that the union was reneging
on its word, the league canceled a bargaining session
that had been scheduled for Saturday.
During the past week of discord, the union has insisted
on its desired percentage of basketball-related
revenues. The union does not intend to budge off 57
percent, well above the 51.8 percent figure that
allowed the owners to reopen the collective bargaining
agreement.
"It's not practical, but that's the position they've
taken," Russ Granik, the deputy commissioner, said
Saturday. "They want at least as good a deal as last
time. Unfortunately, the way it worked out is that the
players had too good of a deal."
Until the league sees some hint of flexibility, the
stalemate is expected to continue. Perhaps the NBA's
labor strife will end as it did in the NHL. As January
came, and a deadline was set, the fear of losing the
season began to unsettle the players and the owners.
That fear motivated them to overcome the hostility and
get a deal done.
If and when a deadline is set for the NBA, there is the
expectation that a marathon session of bargaining will
commence. As one union official put it, the waiting
would be over and the players could find out whether a
deal could be struck.
But any reliance on the NHL blueprint can be perilous.
What if Stern continues his reluctance to lay down a
threat by setting a deadline and, without warning,
decides to cancel the season? What if the owners, some
of whom are willing to forgo the season now, are not
posturing?
"I have no idea what they are waiting for or what their
strategy is," Granik said. "We're not going to set a
deadline because that sounds like an ultimatum. Either
we will make a deal or we won't. Our strategy is very
simple: We need a deal that is fair to the owners. If
we have it, we play basketball. If we don't have it, we
won't. There's no hocus-pocus. There's no magic to it.
We'd much prefer to negotiate the deal now rather than
later."
Copyright 1998 The New York Times Company