AFL Women’s players set to vote on renegotiated CBA with season up to 10 games by 2022
AFL Women’s players have been presented with a renegotiated collective bargaining agreement that would see the length of the season increase plus a longer finals series by 2022.
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AFLW players are set to vote on a renegotiated collective bargaining deal that would see the competition increase to 10 games plus finals over the next three years.
Players distributed the latest CBA on Monday and a vote is understood to be imminent following weeks of dispute.
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They had asked for more time to consider the previous proposal, which would have seen the 2020 season at eight games plus three weeks of finals increased to nine games plus finals for 2021 and 2022.
Club delegates last week met league heavyweights to thrash out the details.
The new deal sees the final year of the deal increased to 10 home and away games, plus three weeks of finals, and the conference system retained.
The lengthened season will mean an extended pre-season, and players will be contracted for more than 23 weeks by 2022, up from 17.5 weeks.
Players will receive much greater notice of season dates.
The start of next month’s pre-season is still floating between November 4 and 18 while the deal is under negotiation.
It is understood the 2020 season will begin in the first weekend of February and run until approximately Round 4 of the men’s season.
If the deal is passed, it would end weeks of standoff by players who felt frustrated by the process and what they felt was a lack of consultation.
There remains division among players as a group is still pushing for a 13-week season, plus finals, as the competition prepares to increase to 14 teams next season.
Player pay — which will increase by 21 per cent for next season, then 7 per cent in 2021 and 16 per cent in 2022 — was agreed to in the last collective bargaining agreement.
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