NHL lockout talks resume

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The North American National Hockey League (NHL) and National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA) are heading back to the negotiating table less than a week after talks to end a three-month labour dispute stalled.

The ‘lockout’, which has shut down one of North America’s most popular sports, has been portrayed as a fight between the billionaire owners of ice hockey’s top clubs and the game’s millionaire stars – with the poor fans caught in the middle.

For the players’ union however, their resistance to the lockout imposed by the NHL is central to a wider battle against aggressive management practices designed to force workers into agreements on lower wages or weaker labour standards.

"We see it as a real union issue," Alex Dagg, director of operations at the National Hockey League Players’ Association, told Equal Times.

"If the owners can use these kind of strong-arm tactics on hockey players, who you would think would have more bargaining power than the typical employee, that should be noted by other unions," she said in an interview from the NHLPA’s headquarters in Toronto.

The wider union movement is showing support.

This week, the President of the Canadian Auto Workers union Ken Lewenza joined NHLPA Executive Director Don Fehr to write a joint article on Tuesday in the Toronto Star denouncing the league’s action.

"Hockey players are the latest victims of an increasingly common, aggressive management strategy: locking out workers when they won’t accept management demands for deep concessions," they wrote.

"Like other workers, hockey players have little control over the direction of the business. They deserve security, respect and a fair share of the wealth that they produce with their sweat and effort."

 

Collective bargaining

The NHL declared a lockout on September 15, after players rejected a new collective bargaining agreement which aimed to reduce their share of revenues, restrict the length of contracts, weaken players’ ability to change clubs and limit salary arbitration.

Since then, over 500 games have been cancelled and no major league matches will be played up to the New Year. That’s left fans bitterly disappointed – particularly in Canada where ice hockey is the national sport.

Increasingly the shutdown is also hurting others caught up in the dispute. Hot dog vendors, stadium cleaners, administrative employees at clubs and staff in restaurants close to hockey arenas are among those who have lost jobs or seen income plummet.

Bank of Montreal economist Doug Porter has estimated the lockout could slice CAN$1.8 billion (US$1.82 billion) off Canada’s economy, which is about 0.1 per cent of gross domestic product.

Spending in bars near hockey arenas in the Canadian cities of Winnipeg, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal and Calgary is down almost 35 per cent on last year, according to a report released last week by the credit and debit card processor Moneris.

This is the third NHL lockout in less than 20 years. In 2004-2005, the league’s action wiped out the whole season. Similar tactics have also been used in major league basketball and American football. Players’ unions say management is increasingly resorting to such confrontational methods despite the sport’s growing revenues.

"It’s never been about [the fact] that they are not making money and they need to get money back from the players," says Dagg. "It’s all about figuring out how to pay players less.

“What is the difference really about that and other global employers saying that autoworkers in Canada, or autoworkers in Germany, get paid too much and they have to be paid less?"

She points out that although top ice hockey stars earn big money, the average career of an NHL player only lasts four years and they face a constant risk of career-ending injury.

The NHL case could be a wider test of labour relations in North America where management lockouts are on the rise in other sectors. In Canada alone, there have been high profile lockouts in recent months affecting steel, aluminium and railway workers.

"The aggressive position of the NHL owners is more than just an affront to players and fans of the game. It is a sign of the very worrying times we live in," Lewenza and Fehr wrote in their Toronto Star op-ed.

"Employers – no matter how wealthy or profitable they already are – feel entitled to wring even more from the pockets of their employees, regardless of the collateral damage to families, communities, and the whole economy.”