Super Netball pay dispute: Players take to social media to #FightForFair

Almost the entire Super Netball playing cohort has taken to social media to express their disappointment at what they say is Netball Australia’s unwillingness to enter into a real partnership model.

Netball Australia’s claim its public release of details in the protracted and increasingly tense standoff with the players association was a move to communicate directly with players has been met with a swift response from athletes, who took to social media in droves on Monday night posting under the #FightForFair hashtag.

While NA has argued for some time not all players are being made fully aware of their proposals, effectively accusing Australian Netball Players Association officials and delegates of being overzealous gatekeepers, almost the entire Super Netball playing group took to social media on Monday night sharing ANPA’s #FightForFair notes on their platforms to highlight their belief in the campaign.

Australian Diamonds captain Liz Watson, ANPA president and Diamonds defender Jo Weston, World Cup player of the tournament and NSW Swifts import Helen Housby, five-time Super Netball league MVP Jhaniele Fowler and premiership-winning England import Eleanor

Cardwell, whose post included the tag line “‘Best league in the world’ so I was told”, were among those to post identical messages to their Instagram stories on Monday night.

Jo Weston, Eleanor Cardwell and Liz Watson all posted #FightForFair messages on their Instagram stories.

Under the heading “Protect and Respect”, the vast majority of the 80 full-time contracted players from last season posted identical messages raising their disappointment with NA’s position on the Collective Player Agreement (CPA).

“We are disappointed Netball Australia has rejected a real partnership model with the players,” the posts read.

“Our requests are very modest and tailored to meet the challenging financial circumstances of the times.

“We’d like to share in the good times we help build and we will share in the risk when times are tough.”

NA had earlier revealed significant detail of the three-year offer it says was rejected by ANPA, including the fact players will be able to enter into one, two or three-year contracts; annual pay increases of three per cent; the proposed profit-share partnership; an increase in the base salary; and additional commercial earning potential.

The level of detail revealed on the CPA was, in part, due to NA’s ongoing belief that not all players are being made fully aware of what NA has on the table.

Diamonds captain Liz Watson (Captain) playing at the Netball World Cup 2023. Picture: Gallo Images/Netball World Cup 2023

But the blanket social media response from players is a sign there remains widespread player discontent and that finalising the CPA will be no easy task despite all players being out of contract after the previous agreement lapsed at midnight on September 30.

The only players currently in work are national squad members and camp invitees, who are participating under the terms of the Diamonds CPA, which was recently extended until June 30 next year giving players a small wage increase and formalising parental and carer support for any child of a Diamonds squad member up to four years of age.

But as negotiations over the Super Netball CPA - as well as the unfinalised Team Participation Agreements (TPAs) - drag on, Super Netball stars have also taken control of their image rights in a move set to raise the stakes in the standoff with NA.

As ANPA on Monday called for formal mediation with NA over the long-running pay negotiations, the athletes handed control of their intellectual property (IP) rights to the players’ association in a move that will prevent the parent body, sponsors or any other commercial entities from using their image for promotional purposes without their consent.

Effectively unemployed after their contracts with Super Netball clubs lapsed before a new Collective Player Agreement (CPA) could be finalised, the withdrawal of IP is the one of the strongest forms of industrial action the players can initiate in the off-season.

It’s a bold move but shows how strongly the players feel about what they see as NA’s unwillingness to enter into “a real partnership model with the players”.

While the sides issued “respectful” releases just over a week ago, with hopes high a deal was not far off, negotiations stalled again during the week, with each side going public on Monday with claim and counterclaim about the stalled talks.

“The Australian Netball Players Association (ANPA) advises that talks with Netball Australia to secure a fair partnership between players and administrators have failed,” ANPA’s statement started.

Saying the players believed they had “bent over backwards” and “made significant concessions” without their flexibility being reciprocated, ANPA called for mediation given NA’s rejection of several player proposals.

The most significant of these is a revenue/profit share model which has been a bone of contention in talks that have gone on for most of the year.