The second agreement in the history of the Women’s Basketball League is now a reality. The document, which was signed at the end of 2023, was officially published yesterday in the Official State Gazette (BOE). In it A minimum salary of 16,000 euros gross is guaranteed, housing is excluded or other supplements as part of the minimum wage, full working hours are guaranteed and the obligation to pay the full salary in case of injury or sick leave. In addition, it will cover subsidiary players who register for at least one match with the first team and creates a joint conflict resolution commission, among other measures, according to the documentation to which it has had access. 2Playbook.
The new labor framework will be valid for one season, with the possibility of automatic extensions each season and that it will only be applicable in the highest national women’s basketball competition. The conditions of travel, nor the internal structures of the clubs, are not included in the regulation.
Both parties had negotiated the agreement for at least two years. At the negotiating table were the Association of Basketball Players (Ajub), the National Women’s Basketball Association (Anbf), the Spanish Basketball Federation (FEB) and the Higher Sports Council (CSD); the latter two as mediators and guarantors. It is still unknown whether the CSD will make extraordinary financial contributions to help clubs and leagues advance in the professionalization of their structures and assume the higher cost of some of the measures of the new agreement.
The Ajub has assured that the agreement “includes the distribution of working time, weekly rest, vacations, medical examinations, employment contracts, salary with a minimum full-time remuneration…”. Elisa Aguilarre-elected this week as president of the FEB, has indicated that “It is the milestone that has made me most excited. Working conditions and the professionalization of structures are improved. Women’s basketball is being strengthened, but we want more: more solid structures, better conditions for the players and to be the best league in the world.”
In the presentation of the signing of the agreement it was already indicated that The minimum wage would be set at 16,000 gross euros. It must be paid in monthly installments and the home is left out as part of the payment. This was a common practice in the league and some of the clubs claimed that it could be included as part of the payment. The agreement finally allows it to be included as part of the salary, but as a complement and as long as the 16,000 euros of gross minimum salary are guaranteed in cash. “Remuneration in kind may be considered, but it will not be included as a salary concept within the minimum wage.”
Employment contracts will comply with article 3 of Royal Decree 1006/1985, which regulates the employment relationship of professional athletes. Besides, a clause is introduced so that contracts have a defined duration, even if it only refers to a single competition or a specific number of matches. Regarding transfers, the agreement simply limits itself to indicating that its practice is allowed as long as there is a contract in force and both parties agree to it, without setting a limit and leaving the distribution of the salary of the club to the free negotiation of the clubs. player
For the first time The full working day is guaranteed by agreement, although it is something that, in practice, most clubs already complied with. The agreement states that “the day will be effective for the time that it is under the orders of the club, for the purposes of training or physical and technical preparation. In no case will it exceed seven hours a day or 35 hours a week, with exceptions.”
These exceptions include the participation of the players in publicity or institutional events of the club. Pre-match rallies or travel will not be counted in work time. Rest times, paid vacations, maternity leave and the obligation to communicate training sessions in advance are also established, and it prohibits separating players from training, except in cases of recovery from injuries or illness.
Another key point was economic perceptions in the event of injury or temporary disability. The clubs have given in and will have to complete the Social Security benefit o Mutual until 100% of your salary is paid for the duration of the leave. This point was essential for the players, who for years had been left unprotected in different cases and, they claimed, it was essential to advance in professionalization.
The agreement also includes the creation of a joint commission made up of eight representatives who will designate each party to the agreement and other actors who were already at the negotiating table for the agreement, such as the CSD or the FEB. This commission will be in charge of managing “everything related to non-payments, anything related to Christmas holidays, the study of the evolution of relations between the parties and other activities.”
Regarding image rights, there is hardly any news regarding other collective agreements in any sport. The players give up their rights, including their name, image and voice, for free dissemination by club and league. So that sponsors also have access, “they may be exploited through third parties and companies” and, at the same time, it is guaranteed that “the player can use her image for her own benefit as long as it is not direct competition with the activity of the club, its sponsors or the competitions in which it participates.”
And rights are not only guaranteed in commercial matters. The women’s basketball agreement is pioneer by including an article that guarantees freedom of expression for female players and “freely express their thoughts on any matter, and especially on topics related to their profession.” It also includes the right to reconcile family life and two broad protocols in cases of gender violence or workplace or sexual harassment, which are attached to the same document.
The intrahistory of the women’s basketball agreement
The signing of the agreement has been under negotiation for at least two years. It was a priority in the final stretch of Jorge Garbajosa’s mandate, who finally had to transfer Aguilar. The Zaragoza 2022 Queen’s Cup got the negotiations back on track and, after the break in the CSD marked by the elections and institutional changes, It could finally be unlocked at the end of November.
The LF Endesa was the first women’s league to have an agreement in Spain. It was signed in 2007 and came into force in January 2008, but it barely lasted one season. None of the parties sat down again to negotiate its renewal and, since then, clubs and players have been governed by the needs of the market and the regulations that the Spanish Basketball Federation (FEB) has imposed on its competitions. A large part of this document has been the basis that has nourished the first women’s football agreement, signed as a prior step to its professionalization.
Along with Luci Pascua, on the board of directors of the Players Association are the captain of Perfumerías Avenida, Silvia Domínguez (vice president) and others with great experience in the league such as María Asurmendi, María Pina, Marina Ferragut and Vega Gimeno. The current board of directors joined in 2017.
The National Women’s Basketball Association, for its part, is made up of the clubs of the highest competition. Currently there are two commissions. One focuses on the professionalization of the league, and is made up of Movistar Estudiantes, Valencia Basket and Spar Girona. The second is the one in charge of negotiating the agreement. Until the end of 2022, Perfumerías Avenida was there but, after the resignation of Carlos Méndez as general director, Carmen Muguruza, president of IDK Euskotren, has led the final stretch of the negotiations alone.
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