A-League officials have been accused of negotiating in bad faith by speaking to the media within hours of their latest pay offer, as the players’ union said the conduct “continues to erode … trust”.
The men’s and women’s competitions remain without a bargaining agreement two months before the start of the new season. Negotiations have stalled recently and the possibility of strike action has been raised.
The Australian Professional Leagues (APL), which operates the A-Leagues, sent their latest offer to players on Wednesday, calling a late afternoon press conference at short notice soon afterwards.
The offer invited players’ union Professional Footballers Australia (PFA) to come back to the table to discuss an updated position, which included an increase to the A-League Women salary cap.
The new one-year, bridging deal proposed also promised to commit to “setting a pathway to full-time professionalism for ALW players, with the aim of having a mutually-agreed plan in place within 12 months”.
A fully professional A-League Women competition has been one of the key goals for players in this round of bargaining, despite financial challenges at the APL and some clubs.
APL chief executive, Steve Rosich, said they were committed to negotiations “in good faith” since they began eight months ago.
“Our updated proposal underlines a real and genuine intent on the APL’s part to arrive at an outcome that both meets the near-term priorities in a responsible and viable way, and to turn our focus with the PFA on building meaningful and sustainable growth that will be good for everyone involved in the professional game,” he said.
The players’ union has been pushing for a fully professional A-League Women during the latest round of bargaining. Photograph: Scott Gardiner/Getty ImagesPFA chief executive Beau Busch issued a response on Wednesday evening, criticising the decision for the APL to go to media so soon after sharing their updated proposal.
“Rather than allowing the players a reasonable opportunity to fully consider it, the APL has instead immediately announced it in the media, revealing a fundamental misunderstanding of how good faith bargaining works.
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“The players deserve the respect of hearing directly about proposals that affect their careers through a genuine process, rather than reading about them in the media.
“The players overwhelmingly rejected the APL’s previous final offer due to a fundamental lack of trust that it would have secured the leagues’ futures after years of mismanagement. The APL’s conduct continues to erode that trust.”
Rosich defended the decision to go to the media when talking with journalists on Wednesday afternoon. “We’ve been silent, obviously, in the marketplace until now, but we think now’s the right time to outline where we’re at and where we’re going,” he said.
“I have spoken to Beau today, we have issued a detailed letter to Beau, he has that information. I explained we were going to articulate our position in the marketplace so the marketplace was informed – not just the players but the clubs – and we think stakeholders in our game need to know what we’re putting forward.”
The A-League Men season begins on 16 October, with the women’s competition kicking off the following day.
