It looks like the cancellation of games was the impetus we were looking for for the federal government to start getting involved in the NBA lockout. After speculating about it over the weekend, and some comments from President Obama, the country’s #1 federal mediator is now on the case.
“For a number of months, I have participated in separate, informal, off-the-record discussions with the principals representing the NBA and the NBPA concerning the status of their collective bargaining negotiations,” [mediator George] Cohen said in the statement. “It is evident that the ongoing dispute will result in a serious impact, not only upon the parties directly involved, but also, of major concern, on interstate commerce—i.e., the employers and working men and women who provide services related to the basketball games, and, more generally, on the economy of every city in which those games are scheduled to be played.
“In these circumstances, the agency has invited, and the parties have agreed, to convene further negotiations under my auspices,” Cohen said.
“… but also, of major concern, of interstate commerce”
Those are the magic words in this. Like I said over the weekend, it looks real bad to have billionaires and millionaires fighting over four billion dollars while minimum wage workers face wage and job losses because of that fight.
So the federal government is now involved. Which means maybe some of the egos will have to be put in check. This is progress. This is a good thing.
If, for some reason, mediation fails, be prepared for larger government intervention. It won’t be long before, say, Senators Rob Portman or Sherrod Brown of Ohio bring up the magic phrase — “Antitrust Exemption”. That, of course, would likely go hand-in-hand with union decertification, another increasingly likely side-effect of failed mediation. But make no mistake, the threat of some attack on the NBA’s antitrust exemption would be a motivation to get this thing done quickly.
That is something that is well down the road, and I doubt it will happen. But it’s now just that much more possible. The feds are in this game now, and as much as David Stern has been painted as a tyrant with both sides under his thumb, he’s no match for the power of the feds. Mediation means its time to play nice. Which might ultimately mean we get most of the season back.
