No one will dispute that, in the past, the Professional Lacrosse Players' Association has allowed itself to be abused so that the sport can grow.

For a long time, the union turned the other cheek on unfair treatment by teams or fought the injustice quietly.

During the past year, the line's been drawn in the sand, ever so carefully.

This summer, the union is making it perfectly clear -- cross that line and pay the price.

The PLPA is suddenly attacking with every bullet, arrow, and knife it can find, and isn't hesitating to play hardball with either the league or with individual owners.

For evidence of the new attitude, look no further than how PLPA is handling Michael Gongas' difficulties in issuing paychecks. Eleven players from Gongas' teams filed for unrestricted free agency in late June, citing various breaches of contract.

On 16 July, the NLL was forced to terminate the contracts of five of those players (New York Saints forwards Josh Black, Nick Carlson, Gavin Prout, and Matt Shearer and goaltender Gord Nash) when Gongas, the Saints' co-owner, failed to pay up on outstanding debts to the players in a timely manner.

Nash got all of his money after filing, but since Gongas chose to send the check via first-class mail rather than splurge for a quicker delivery method, it didn't arrive until after the permitted ten days for the Saints to make good.

Prout, on the other hand, is still waiting for some of his cash. The Saints' number-two scorer was paid almost $2500 in game compensation only after filing a termination-of-contract notice. He filed again, for the incentive bonuses he was owed, and the Saints paid him $2250 instead of the required $2750.

Black, meanwhile, claims that he was given a check for $375 after the season instead of the $1700-plus he was supposed to receive.

Carlson, in his grievance, accused the Saints of improperly deducting "telephone bills" for his pay. Gongas argued that Carlson verbally authorized the deductions, but New York labor law requires that it be in writing. Oops.

Shearer's complaints are unknown, but his case concluded the same way as his teammates' -- unrestricted free agency.

Of the six other players who filed termination-of-contract notices in June, only one (New York's Scott Stapleford) has dropped out of the mix.

The others -- Derek Suddons, Dan Dawson, Bill Greer, Travis Gillespie, and Jon Harasym, all of Gongas' Columbus Landsharks -- had contract termination hearings yesterday, and a decision is expected soon.

However, they've now been joined by teammates Kyle Arbuckle, Peter Lough, Kasey Beirnes, Ryan Cousins, and Pat Maddelena -- making for a combined 145 goals and 168 assists this past season among the ten players.

By comparison, everyone else who suited up for the Landsharks combined to record just 39 goals and 53 assists.

If there was any doubt that Gongas (who is about to sell a piece of the Landsharks to the NHL's Phoenix Coyotes) has little concern for the contract disputes, Thursday's dispersal draft wiped it away.

One of Gongas' selections for Columbus was Eric Pacey, who had previously filed a termination notice against the Ottawa Rebel. The Rebel suspended operations one day before the draft.

That grievance is now Gongas' to handle.

It's possible the league will lean on the Landsharks players to drop their grievances to facilitate the team's sale and move to Arizona, especially since most of them have been paid.

It's also possible that the league will step aside and allow Gongas to flush away all the young talent he has gathered.

Two other Rebel players -- goaltender Matt Disher, who went first overall to Anaheim, and forward Ryan Painter, selected by Toronto -- have filed notice, bringing the current total to nineteen players who either have been set free or have asked to be.

What's more, since the grievances began rolling in, PLPA has continued to claim that more would be forthcoming. Although the union has stopped saying it so explicitly, few people believe the filings have come to an end.

It's been suggested that some players are owed half a season's pay by the Rebel and that it was not an isolated problem.

While the NLL continues to sift through the complaints against Gongas and Rebel co-owner Brad Watters (whose other team, the Toronto Rock, has been accused of various misdeeds in the past, although nothing has stuck), it also must negotiate with the union on a new collective bargaining agreement.

The previous CBA, a three-year deal announced in December 2000, expired Thursday evening (hence the accelerated schedule for dispersing the Rebel players) and the two sides have not yet begun discussions on a new agreement.

Or, as the union prefers to describe it on its web site, "Our report [on the negotiations] is that there is nothing to report."

With the NLL's tradition of lengthy CBA negotiations, it's an issue that isn't going away any time soon.

There's also the little matter of the union dues, a dispute which, not surprisingly, centers around Gongas.

In June, PLPA accused the Saints and Landsharks of withholding union dues from players' paychecks but failing to actually submit that money to the union.

Somewhere along the way, the union apparently grew tired of settling this directly with the two teams, and has filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board.

Passing the ball to the NLRB is not only a significant change in PLPA's method of operation, it's a signal that the union finally means serious business.

See that line? Don't cross it.