NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL & 4 Other Pro Players’ Unions “Stand In Solidarity” With WGA Strike, Issue Statement

David Robb
·1 min read

A coalition of eight professional sports unions representing thousands of baseball, football, soccer and hockey players has issued a statement in support of the ongoing Writers Guild strike, which is now in its third week.

“Writers deserve a contract that provides the work conditions necessary for their creativity to thrive,” said the unions, which include the Major League Baseball Players Association, the National Football League Players Association, the National Basketball Players Association, the Women’s National Basketball Players Association, the National Hockey League Players Association, the Major League Soccer Players Association, the National Women’s Soccer League Players Association, and the United States Women’s National (Soccer) Team Players Association.

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In their joint statement, the unions said that the “stand in solidarity with WGA members in their fight for a fair deal that reflects the immense value they create for the television and film industries.”

Strikes are not unfamiliar in American sports. The NBPA held a work stoppage in 2020 in response to the shooting of an unarmed Black man, Jacob Blake, who was shot in the back seven times by a police officer in Kenosha, Wis. While quiet of late, the NFLPA went on strike in 1968, 1970 1974, 1982, 1987. In baseball, players struck in 1972, 1980, 1981 and 1985.

They join 90 other guilds, unions and organizations, and 38 political figures, who have expressed their solidarity and support with the WGA’s strike.

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