Quote:
Originally Posted by Yukon Joe
I dunno. I feel like being a Jets fan has kind of warped my sensibilities about this.
For many years being a Jets fan meant that I was following the business of hockey much more than I was the on-ice product. I was watching what was going on in Glendale most specifically, but also for developments in Atlanta, in Hamilton and Quebec.
So I find the whole CBA negotiations quite interesting.
As for decertification...
Talk about playing russian roulette. Now I'm not a labour lawyer, but I am a litigator, and I've both negotiated a lot of settlements, and fought a lot of court cases. When you go to court you lose control over what the ultimate outcome is going to be. When you negotiate you control the outcome.
Both sides have a lot to lose, and a lot to gain, with decertification and subsequent anti-trust litigation. The players might get a ruling that the 30 teams are independent businesses, and any restraint of trade - be it the draft, salary caps or anything else, are illegal.
But maybe they lose. NHL is found to be one business, competing with other sports leagues. With no union the league then gets carte blanche to set any rules it wants.
I'd have to search. I don't think NBA or NFL either got final decisions on these points, but the results were leading against the NFLPA.
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Yukon Joe I hope you continue to post, as a lawyer IMO you are now the resident expert on most things related to the CBA. My main question at this point is what happens to current contracts if the NHLPA sucessfully decertifies? Also what is the process of decertification including appeals all the way to who has the final say and what type of time period are we looking at? Thanks.