Alaska team captain Tony Dela Cruz has called to revive the PBA Players’ Union to give protection to players during their careers and even after retirement.
Talking to SportsIQ, Inquirer’s weekly sports show, on Thursday, Dela Cruz said forming a union is not just about fighting to increase the players’ salaries but also about helping them once they retire.
“There are so many issues PBA players have to face. Players don’t have a players’ union,” Dela Cruz told Inquirer assistant Sports editor Francis Ochoa and INQUIRER.net sports editor Celest Flores-Colina. “It’s not about we need to have higher salaries, but what happens to them after retirement.
“There’s no retirement fund, no protection.”
The 37-year-old forward cited the case of Eugene Tejada who suffered a career-ending spinal injury after a devastating fall in a game against Red Bull on May 16, 2006.
“Like Eugene Tejada, when he got hurt, there was no insurance,” said Dela Cruz. “That makes me angry as a player.”
“We’re risking our lives every night, on the court and in practice.”
Dela Cruz added the Players’ Union can help those who have retired from the game get a sustainable income opportunity, like through retirement fund or a program to assist players transition into other careers.
“How awesome it would be if every player has a backup when they retire. For every year you played as a player, there is a retirement fund,” said Dela Cruz. “There [could be] some kind of OJT [on-the-job training] for you before you retire, like what business do you want to have.”
The veteran Alaska players said that PBA players “don’t make NBA money,” so he is reaching out to the younger players in the league to remind them the value of planning ahead.
“I reach out to younger players and say ‘you look cool now with your cool gadgets and cool cars but that’s gonna run out one day because you’re gonna get old.’”
“We have a shelf life. It’s like a date on milk. Every player has to know that they have an expiry date. When you’re 34, 35, 36 or whatever age you retire at, you’re still still middle aged and what skills do you have to have. I think the PBA should help then with the assistance of job skills and they could be productive.”
The PBA once had a Players’ Union with Franz Pumaren, the now head coach of the Adamson Soaring Falcons, serving as its last president.
