The union representing players for the Bloomington Bison and other ECHL hockey teams have voted to authorize a strike after negotiating for months on a new contract.
Friday’s vote does not mean a strike will definitely happen, though it signals players are willing to stop games midseason if they can’t reach a deal with the ECHL.
“On Friday, our members overwhelmingly authorized a strike mandate, giving our Bargaining Committee the authority to continue pursuing a fair and reasonable agreement with the League,” the Professional Hockey Players’ Association [PHPA] said in a statement. “The PHPA looks forward to continuing negotiations and hopes this show of unity leads to meaningful discussions at the table.”
The PHPA represents players in the ECHL, which includes the Bison. The Bison, which are affiliated with the NHL’s New York Rangers, are 13-8 in their second season. They host the Kalamazoo Wings on Saturday at Grossinger Motors Arena.
PHPA’s last collective bargaining agreement with the ECHL ended in June. In a letter to fans in November as it negotiated with the ECHL, the PHPA said it was “far apart from the League on several fundamental issues that speak to fairness, respect, and the sustainability of professional hockey at this level.” Those issues included mandatory rest periods, wages, and players’ community involvement and off-ice contributions.
Players "deserve to be paid for corporate and auction-related events," PHPA argued.
"The auctions that you [the fans] make so successful, the auctions teams use to drive their revenues — bidding on jerseys off our backs — provide us with a sense of appreciation, but we as players do not see a penny from those sales," the PHPA wrote.
The previous collective bargaining agreement [CBA] required a weekly salary cap of $14,600 for teams of 20 players, meaning each player would make around $730 per week.
“We are not asking for extravagance. We are asking for fairness: proper rest that respects the physicality of the game and us as professionals, good-faith negotiations, and a living wage,” the PHPA said in the letter.
ECHL players previously went on strike in 2003, though that was during the offseason.
The Bloomington Bison and ECHL did not return requests for comment from WGLT.
