Players' union waiting on NHL

TORONTO — Donald Fehr and the players' association are ready to get back to the bargaining table at any moment. They are now just waiting for the NHL to feel the same way.

"(We aren't talking) because the owners have not indicated a desire to resume," the NHLPA's executive director said Wednesday night before a charity hockey game. "We've indicated any number of times that we're willing to resume when they are (and) we're willing to resume without preconditions.

"So we're waiting to hear back from them."

The sides haven't negotiated with one another since Dec. 6 in New York, when talks broke down. They also met with a U.S. federal mediator for two days in New Jersey last week and reported no progress. Since then, there has been only limited contact between the sides, including a brief email exchange on Wednesday.

"I don't think either party is refusing a meeting," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said in an email. "But unless there is an indication one side or the other is prepared to move or has a new idea to move the process forward — and so far neither side has indicated — I am not sure what we would do at the meeting."

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NHL, union to resume labor talks

TORONTO — The NHL and its players' union are to resume bargaining Friday for the first time since the lockout began, although the talks will concentrate on secondary economic issues.

Deputy commissioner Bill Daly and NHL Players' Association special counsel Steve Fehr met Tuesday in Toronto and set up the session, which will be in New York. These will be the first formal negotiations since Sept. 12, when the players and owners exchanged proposals.

With the league and union far apart on money, both sides decided to discuss other economic issues that also are necessary for an agreement. Fehr said the topics will include pension and medical plans, schedule rules, drug testing and the grievance procedure.

"Obviously, we've got to talk before you can get a deal, so I think it's important to get the talks going again," Daly said Monday. "But you also have to have something to say. I think it's fair to say we feel like we need to hear from the players' association in a meaningful way because I don't think that they've really moved off their initial proposal, which was made more than a month ago now."

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NFL, officials' union resume talks

NEW YORK — The NFL and the officials' union were talking again.

Two people familiar with the talks say that the NFL and the locked-out officials' union met on Sunday.

It was uncertain whether progress was made in an attempt to reach a new collective bargaining agreement, or when further negotiations would take place.

The two people spoke to AP on the condition of anonymity because the talks are not being made public.

The NFL locked out the officials in June after their contract expired. The league has been using replacement officials, and through three weeks of the regular season there has been much criticism over the way some games are being handled.

Earlier Sunday, the NFL players' union sent an open letter to team owners calling for an end to the lockout.

The sides also met last week for two days, but the negotiations remained far apart.

Also, the league last week warned teams that it won't tolerate confrontational behavior toward the new officials.

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Japanese baseball union approves participation in 2013 WBC

After weeks of uncertainty, the Japanese Professional Baseball Players Association has decided to participate in next year's World Baseball Classic, it was revealed on Tuesday.

"We want to announce that the players from the 12 teams have decided to take back the non-participation resolution (passed on July 20) in order to participate in the WBC," said union president Takahiro Arai of the Hanshin Tigers at a press conference in Osaka prior to the team's game against the Yomiuri Giants.

The union's declaration seemingly paves the way for Japan to compete for a third consecutive title in next year's WBC. Nippon Professional Baseball had previously agreed to compete, but the union had resisted, until Tuesday.

"The fact that the JPBPA and NPB have apparently reached agreement is certainly a positive development. We look forward to receiving an official acceptance from NPB," MLB's vice president for Asia Jim Small, representing WBC Inc., said in an email to The Japan Times.

The decision to compete is a reversal from the stance the union took July 20, when its members voted to not compete in the tournament unless NPB secured the sponsorship rights for the team.

After meeting with tournament organizers, NPB officials revealed Japan in fact owned certain rights to sponsorship revenues stemming from the Samurai Japan team, likely a contributing factor in bringing the JPBPA on board.

"The reason we decided not to participate was not because the players were struggling," read a statement on the union's website. "We just wanted to have the rights normally given to a participant country at a regular international sporting event. Because of that, we wanted to obtain a more successful future for NPB and more of all for Japanese professional baseball."

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Referees union fires back at NFL

The NFL referees union says the league is "engaged in a misinformation campaign" following unsuccessful negotiations earlier in the weekend.

The two sides failed to reach an agreement Saturday when they met for the third day in a row, and the league said it's proceeding with replacement officials.

The NFL locked out the referees in early June, and hired replacements, whose work in exhibition games has been heavily criticized.

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NBA union under federal probe

NEW YORK — The federal government is investigating the business practices of the NBA players' association.

The union confirmed Friday it has received a subpoena for documents from the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan and says it will cooperate with the investigation.

The NBPA also said in a statement that it has appointed a special committee to oversee an internal inquiry, including a financial audit.

Recent reports have questioned the NBPA's finances and spending practices, largely having to do with the hiring of family members and firms that employ relatives of executive director Billy Hunter. Hunter says he will cooperate with the internal inquiry, but will not be in involved in the effort so it remains independent.

The special committee, consisting of members of the NBPA executive committee and other player representatives. The special committee has retained Theodore V. Wells, Jr. and the law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP to conduct the inquiry.

The NBPA said in the statement it looks forward to putting the matters to rest.

Carly Sullivan, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan, said: "We have no comment. We don't confirm or deny investigations."

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