Hockey players in the ECHL went on strike Friday over unresolved contract negotiations, postponing at least three Bloomington Bison games and threatening dozens more.
The ECHL said Friday it made its “last, best, and final offer” on Christmas to the Professional Hockey Players’ Association [PHPA], which represents Bison players and others in the ECHL.
“This proposal failed to meaningfully address key health, safety, and economic issues and misrepresented the impact of the proposed financial changes,” PHPA said Friday night.
The Bison said on social media that Friday’s road game at Iowa had been postponed. The Bison subsequently announced the team’s scheduled home games Saturday and Sunday, also against Iowa, have been postponed as well.
The team said all tickets for postponed games remain valid. No action is required by season ticket holders; single-game ticket holders will be able to exchange the tickets for future games. A SpongeBob theme night promotion will be rescheduled.
In an earlier email, the Bison told season-ticket holders their front office staff would work to “bring in new players so that our team can return to the ice as soon as possible.” It’s unclear where those players would come from.
“Unfortunately, union leaders deprived players of the opportunity to vote on our last, best and final offer — an offer that would dramatically raise player salaries by 20% in the first year, boost the per-diem rate, guarantee more off days, and expand the top-of-the-line equipment available to players. We did everything possible to avoid this outcome, and hope that the union leadership will drop its unworkable scheduling demands, let the players vote on our offer, and make it possible for players to return to work,” the ECHL said.
The Bison, affiliated with the NHL’s New York Rangers, are 13-9 in their second season at the city-owned Grossinger Motors Arena.
The ECHL previously said players "would stop getting paid, and lose housing and medical benefits" if they went on strike. The PHPA said it’s “aware that the league is currently directing teams to engage in unlawful activities, including evictions and the removal of medical benefits, for participating in protected union activity.”
Bison captain Eddie Matsushima shared a statement on social media Friday on behalf of Bison players. It praised the Bison organization but said leaguewide issues needed to be addressed.
"Under the current system, careers can change quickly, often without consistent standards or long-term stability across the league," the statement read. "At a minimum, players deserve fairer compensation, improved living conditions, and access to basic resources that allow us to perform our jobs both on and off the ice. These are reasonable expectations for professional athletes and essential to the long-term health of the league."
Sticking points
Player pay is one of the unresolved issues. The PHPA wants a 34% increase in the weekly salary cap this season, with inflationary increases in subsequent years. The ECHL is offering a 19.8% increase this season and future increases eventually totaling 27%.
The current weekly salary cap for a 20-player team is $14,600, meaning players make on average $730 per week. The PHPA’s proposal would raise that to $975 per week.
The PHPA described the other unresolved issues as:
- The PHPA is seeking limitations on travel between games played on consecutive days in order to address player health and safety. “The league shows no concern or regard for players' travel schedule and has said that the nine-hour bus trip home should be considered our day off,” the PHPA said in a Dec. 21 letter to fans. The ECHL has called the union’s scheduling proposal “unworkable,” though it’s willing to introduce stricter requirements for mandated days off every week, reduce the mileage limits for travel between back-to-back games, and modify in-season breaks.
- The union wants a leaguewide break without travel on Dec. 24, 25, and 26 each season.
- The PHPA asked that teams and players be permitted, by mutual agreement, to guarantee contracts for a season “to provide stability when players relocate and commit to a city.”
- The union wants “uninterrupted medical coverage during the off-season” for qualified players who remain signed, restricted, or under contract, consistent with benefits provided to other full-time staff, rather than terminating coverage between July and October.
- The PHPA wants a standard group licensing framework “consistent with other professional sports leagues,” including limits on the use of players’ name, image, and likeness [NIL], wearable-technology medical data, and off-ice time commitments.
Alleged labor violations
The PHPA alleges that the ECHL “sent at least two direct communications to players through team management regarding bargaining-related matters, in an attempt to bully and intimidate players with tactics that violate U.S. labor law.” The union says it’s filed multiple unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board.
“Despite the union’s repeated efforts to meet and engage in bargaining, the league has continued to communicate directly with players in a manner that bypasses the union’s role as the exclusive bargaining representative,” PHPA Executive Director Brian Ramsay said Friday in a statement.
The ECHL said its communication with players “has been appropriate and lawful” and that “we have a right to make sure that our players have and understand the specifics of our proposals and what has happened at the bargaining table.”
The ECHL said every communication "with the PHPA, our players, and teams" is "publicly available." WGLT has requested a copy of all communications with players about contract negotiations over the past week. The ECHL has yet to provide those communications.
ECHL players previously went on strike in 2003, though that was during the offseason.
