WNBA all-stars wear 'pay us what you owe us' warm-up shirts

Indianapolis WNBA All-Star players carried T-shirts with the inscription “Pay Us, what they owe us” when they warmed up for the all-star game on Saturday evening and highlight a large embroidery point for the ongoing collective bargaining negotiations.

The players have made it clear that they will not stir on the turnover of sales and salary in the next CBA, from which they hope they are “transforming”.

“The biggest thing that the holdup is currently is that we want more salary, we want a greater salary and this kind of things, but we want the percentages and sales share,” said Vice President of the WNBPA Vice President Breanna Stewart on Friday. “Because of your latest proposal, we simply cannot get to a place where we actually talk about the same.”

The CBA negotiations were a strong argument on the All-Star weekend. On Thursday, the league and player association met personally for the first time since December. The players who called Latyer as a “missed opportunity” to make real progress in their discussions.

“We were definitely disappointed,” said Napheesa Collier, Vice President of WNBPA, on Friday. “What they came back was only near what we asked or even in the same conversation.”

More than 40 players took part on Thursday, an unprecedented number for a CBA negotiation.

During a press conference on Saturday, the WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said that she liked to come to the meeting and show interest in the negotiations.

For the players, their presence was a way to show the league that “we mean business and we ask for everything and we will continue until we do it right,” said Las Vegas, A'ja Wilson.

“This was a very historical opportunity for players to show themselves and they understood how big the moment was,” said Union President Nneka Ogwumike. “We were hoping, maybe more would give in after the commitment. I don't expect us to have another meeting with so many players involved.”