NEW YORK (AP) — Leaders of the WNBA players' union had a meeting with players Tuesday night and will send out a survey to their members to get feedback on the league's latest contract proposal, a person familiar with the negotiations said.
The league and the players have been unable to reach a new collective bargaining agreement since the union opted out of the previous deal, which expired last year. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Thursday night because details of the meeting had not been released to the public.
The last time the union sent out a survey to the players, in December, it was seeking a vote to authorize the seven-player executive committee to call a strike if needed, according to the person.
In a letter to union executive director Terri Carmichael Jackson that was obtained by the AP, 10 prominent WNBA player agents offered to help the union with the survey and asked for “transparency and coordinated communication rather than individual conversations. At this stage of negotiations, with time being of the essence, alignment and shared information will best serve the players and the Union.”
Front Office Sports was the first to report about Tuesday's players meeting.
The WNBA told the union Monday during a virtual negotiating session that it needs to get a deal in place by March 10 to start the season on time, another person familiar with the discussions told The Associated Press. That person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity Monday because of the sensitive nature of the negotiations.
The player agents asked to review the league's current proposal for a new CBA, subject to signing a nondisclosure agreement, and offered to help with the survey questions so that they can “reinforce the importance of participation and encourage timely response from our clients.”
“Notably, there is an unprecedented level of unity among agents at this moment,” the letter said. “That alignment reflects a shared commitment to doing what is best for players and the long-term health of the league. We believe that same spirit of collaboration, utilizing all available expertise and resources, is how we should continue working together as a team.”
The agents suggested that the union would get a better response to its survey if it were sent via text message as opposed to email. The agents also asked for clarity on how results would be tabulated.
“Transparency around this process will drive participation and help assure alignment and trust across stakeholders,” the letter said.
If a labor deal is agreed to by March 10, it probably would be signed by the end of the month. Under that timeline, the expansion draft for new franchises in Portland and Toronto would be held sometime between April 1 and 6 according to a timetable obtained by the AP.
Free agent qualifying offers, including franchise player tags, would be sent out April 7 and 8. Teams would then have three days to negotiate with the more than 80% of players who are free agents. The signing period would take place from April 12-18.
Training camps would open the next day and the season would be able to start on May 8.
AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba
FILE - The WNBA logo is seen near a hoop before an WNBA basketball game at Mohegan Sun Arena, May 14, 2019, in Uncasville, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill, File)
LONDON (AP) — The Green Party won a special parliamentary election in England on Friday, a big boost for the small party and a blow to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, whose center-left Labour Party was relegated to third place.
Green candidate Hannah Spencer was declared winner of the contest in Gorton and Denton early Friday, with 14,980 votes. Matthew Goodwin of hard-right party Reform UK got 10,578 votes. Labour candidate Angeliki Stogia received 9,364.
The result illustrates the increasingly fragmented political landscape in Britain, which was dominated for decades by the Labour and Conservative parties. The Gorton and Denton constituency in Greater Manchester elected Labour lawmakers for almost all of the last century, but Starmer’s government has seen its popularity plunge since it won office in July 2024.
“For people here in Gorton and Denton who feel left behind and isolated: I see you and I will fight for you,” said Spencer, a local councilor and plumber, in her victory speech.
Jenny Jones, a Green member of the House of Lords, called the result “absolutely seismic.”
The victory brings the environmentalist party's total to five seats in the 650-seat House of Commons. It beat not just Labour, which holds 404 Commons seats, but the anti-immigration Reform UK, led by the veteran hard-right politician Nigel Farage, which holds eight Commons seats but has topped national opinion polls for months.
The outcome of the election, which was triggered by the resignation of the area’s former Labour lawmaker, had been hard to call, in a diverse area that has traditional working-class neighborhoods — once strongly Labour, now tilting toward Reform — as well as large numbers of university students and Muslim residents. Many of them feel disillusioned by Labour’s centrist shift under Starmer and the government’s perceived slowness at criticizing Israel’s conduct of the war against Hamas in Gaza — fertile ground for the Green Party.
Under “eco-populist” leader Zack Polanski, the Greens have expanded beyond environmental concerns to focus on issues including support for the Palestinian cause.
Starmer has endured a string of setbacks since he led Labour to a landslide election victory in July 2024. He has struggled to deliver promised economic growth, repair tattered public services and ease the cost of living. He pledged a return to honest government after 14 years of Conservative government that ended in scandals and chaos, but has been beset by missteps and U-turns over welfare cuts and other unpopular policies.
Friday’s defeat underscores the depth of Labour’s unpopularity and the challenge it faces from both left and right.
The next national election does not have to be held until 2029, meaning the main threat to Starmer comes from within his own party, whose lawmakers are considering whether to ditch him for a new leader.
Starmer had a narrow escape earlier this month as party discontent spiked after revelations about the relationship between sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and Peter Mandelson, the veteran Labour politician appointed by Starmer in 2024 to be U.K. ambassador to Washington.
Police are investigating emails suggesting Mandelson passed sensitive government information to Epstein a decade and a half ago. Mandelson was arrested and questioned by detectives this week before being released on bail. He does not face any allegations of sexual misconduct.
Starmer fired Mandelson in September 2025 after evidence emerged that the ambassador had maintained a friendship with Epstein after the financier’s 2008 conviction for sex offenses involving a minor. But recent revelations have stirred up Labour lawmakers’ anger at Starmer’s poor judgment in appointing Mandelson to the Washington job.
Starmer also will face questions about why the party blocked Andy Burnham, the popular Labour mayor of Greater Manchester, from running. Burnham is widely seen as a potential leadership rival to Starmer.
The defeat will bolster those who argue that the government’s efforts to win over “Reform-curious” voters with policies aimed at curbing immigration have alienated many liberal Labour voters.
Labour Deputy Leader Lucy Powell said “what is really clear is that there is a big majority in this constituency that hasn’t voted for Reform. And on the day the Greens have managed to win that argument that they were best placed to do that.”
But she insisted that “there is no leadership contest” in the Labour Party.
Labour and Green Party supporters in Levenshulme in northwest England, Thursday Feb. 26, 2026, as voters head to the polls in the Gorton and Denton constituency. (AP Photo/Jon Super)
Voters in the Longsight area of Manchester, northwest England, enter a polling station, Thursday Feb. 26, 2026, as voters head to the polls in the Gorton and Denton constituency. (AP Photo/Jon Super)
British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaks with students and staff, during a visit to the Walbottle Academy Campus in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (Scott Heppell/PA via AP)
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer leaves 10 Downing Street to attend the weekly Prime Ministers' Questions session in parliament in London, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
