Class action lawsuits filed against OHL, QMJHL, & WHL

[gstommylee]

http://www.thehockeynews.com/blog/u...-washington-bill-making-whl-players-amateurs/

Unifor union president undeterred about unionizing CHL, even after Washington law defines them as amateurs.

Good luck to him when the Canadian governments do the same thing.

 

[superdeluxe]

Ken Campbell tells us how he really feels about the WHL Bill: http://m.thn.com/blog/call-them-hockey-players-or-amateurs-but-dont-call-them-employees/

 

[Grudy0]

Good luck to him when the Canadian governments do the same thing.

Does it really matter in the grand scheme of things? I'm just waiting for someone to go to the Canadian Competition Bureau asking to have the draft waived.

When building a business plan like a game of Jenga, it only takes one well-removed block to start making the business plan fall.

 

[SnuggaRUDE]

I do not see how any federal law applies here. There are soccer leagues where players are under similar age groups 16 and 17 but they are deemed amateurs. No one took that to federal court and try to challenge it.

If they are going to take it federal court and demand WHL pays their players minimal wage. It will kill the league in the US and any similar leagues that are also in the US. Then those amatuer soccer leagues and clubs will have to pay their players too.

You don't see how federal labor law could apply? If federal labor law includes definition of what an employee is; how could it not be the basis of a lawsuit?

 

[GordonGecko]

I'm just waiting for someone to go to the Canadian Competition Bureau asking to have the draft waived.

Draft regs in the NHL are collectively bargained between the league and the union. The potential employee (rookie player) is agreeing to the draft rules by virtue of his defacto membership in that said union

 

[seanlinden]

Does it really matter in the grand scheme of things? I'm just waiting for someone to go to the Canadian Competition Bureau asking to have the draft waived.

When building a business plan like a game of Jenga, it only takes one well-removed block to start making the business plan fall.

They would have to be declared employees before that happens.

Draft regs are collectively bargained between the league and the union. The potential employee (rookie player) is agreeing to the draft rules by virtue of his defacto membership in that said union

There is no union today...

Step 1 be declared employees with right to unionize. Step 2 would be to do so.

 

[Jeffrey93]

Anyone heard anything new about this?

 

[superdeluxe]

Anyone heard anything new about this?

The WHL bill went into effect today:

http://app.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?year=2015&bill=5893

SB 5893

 

[DoyleG]

Good luck to him when the Canadian governments do the same thing.

Dias is boastful, much like big union leaders in Canada.

However, Unifor lost a high-profile union drive recently (The Toyota plant in Cambridge) and have been relegated to trying to set of a non-bargaining union instead.

 

[UsernameWasTaken]

Sounds like the Washington labour investigation will be continuing

Westhead: State attorney recommends further labour probe of junior hockey

The four Western Hockey League teams based in Washington state and the league itself have been advised by the state's department of labour and industries that an investigative team will expand a probe of major junior hockey to see whether teams have violated child labour laws.
TSN has learned the teams and the WHL were told this week that the state's attorney general has recommended a year-long investigation continue. Earlier this fall, Matt Erlich, a spokesman for the Washington Department of Labour and Industries, said his department had asked the attorney general for advice about whether to continue the investigation.
...
Now that the attorney general has recommended widening the probe, at least three investigators have been assigned to the case. They will conduct in-person interviews with WHL players and team staff and ask for written documentation in the coming months to see if there has been a violation of the industrial welfare act, Erlich told TSN.

 

[PCSPounder]

In seemingly unrelated (but very much not) news:

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-p...1-pick--to-play-in-switzerland-154026526.html

If players start going where the money lies, especially in a high-cost sport like hockey, and the NCAA follows, how long can the CHL turtle?

Mind you, I know Brandon Jennings skipped college basketball and did NOT start a wave of kids going to Europe instead of college. Still I wonder.

 

[jason2020]

In seemingly unrelated (but very much not) news:

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-p...1-pick--to-play-in-switzerland-154026526.html

If players start going where the money lies, especially in a high-cost sport like hockey, and the NCAA follows, how long can the CHL turtle?

Mind you, I know Brandon Jennings skipped college basketball and did NOT start a wave of kids going to Europe instead of college. Still I wonder.

You might see the odd player go to Europe but are you going to see a ton of players 15-18 year olds pack up and move to Europe.

 

[Jeffrey93]

You might see the odd player go to Europe but are you going to see a ton of players 15-18 year olds pack up and move to Europe.

Auston Matthews, in my opinion, just dealt a blow to this 'they're employees' argument.

Want to get paid for what you're doing? Go to Europe and play in their pro leagues that allow younger players.

Want to compete with the highest skilled players in the world and get paid when you get drafted? Play in the CHL development league....develop your skills for future professional jobs.

Development...or pro. Choice is yours. Auston made his choice, every player in the NCAA and CHL is free to make the same choice. Development/Education or Money.

 

[DyerMaker66*]

Austin was going to get an education as a part of his CHL obligations?

 

[Jeffrey93]

Austin was going to get an education as a part of his CHL obligations?

If he chose to, yes.

 

[FissionFire]

The CHL education promise is a sham. Players who are on borderline prospects have to choose between giving up their dream to go to college or pursuing and often winding up with nothing.

 

[DyerMaker66*]

If he chose to, yes.

What if he chose to more than 19 months after his career ended?

 

[Cgytall121]

The CHL education promise is a sham. Players who are on borderline prospects have to choose between giving up their dream to go to college or pursuing and often winding up with nothing.

Hardly a sham. IMO, having a player make a choice when he is 21 years old is more of a positive than anything. If you are beginning your pro career in the ECHL, chances are you are not going to be an NHL player. If you sign an AHL deal, then atleast you are earning a solid income over a multi-year period.

Could the system be improved, sure, but hardly a sham. Rather straightforward from the minute you see the contract from what I have read.

 

[DyerMaker66*]

I don't think there could be anything more negative than forcing a young adult to choose between getting an education and earning money.

 

[Rocko604]

The only players I can see leaving for Europe are ones with late birthdays who are sure fire Top 3 picks. Matthews isn't going to start an exodus.

 

[PCSPounder]

Hardly a sham. IMO, having a player make a choice when he is 21 years old is more of a positive than anything. If you are beginning your pro career in the ECHL, chances are you are not going to be an NHL player. If you sign an AHL deal, then atleast you are earning a solid income over a multi-year period.

Could the system be improved, sure, but hardly a sham. Rather straightforward from the minute you see the contract from what I have read.

All well and good until the CHL team gives the kid the hard sell on the ECHL team. That's where the sham happens. There are active attempts to keep kids out of school.

 

[babblemoth]

All well and good until the CHL team gives the kid the hard sell on the ECHL team. That's where the sham happens. There are active attempts to keep kids out of school.

Other people have to pay for education, so it's a nice possibility to have put on the table for you. It's not like they must go to school at 21 or never see college. People can make their own life paths, live with their choices. I hate to be callous, but that's how I see it.

On the other hand, it sounds like you might have more insight to me as to how far they push the non-lucrative pro route, something I don't know much about. If the teams really make imposing pushes then I don't care for that.

 

[jason2020]

I don't think there could be anything more negative than forcing a young adult to choose between getting an education and earning money.

The fear is you could toss a Nhl career away by doing so.

 

[superdeluxe]

http://www.king5.com/story/news/local/2015/08/12/whl-hockey-labor-law-children-sports/31576791/

Washington has closed its multi year labor law investigation with no findings in a victory for the WHL and especially the 4 teams in Washington State

 

[BadgerBruce]

Story from the Seattle Times.

http://www.seattletimes.com/sports/...labor-investigation-of-western-hockey-league/