The NHL Players’ Association is violating federal laws in the way it is conducting a vote on Ted Saskin’s appointment as executive director of the union, says the attorney for a dissident group of NHL players.
“It’s not only violating, it’s savaging their rights under U.S. labor law,” said Robert Lanza, who represents more than 50 NHL players who are protesting the way Saskin got the top NHLPA job.
The union announced last month that it would conduct a secret-ballot vote among its 30 team player representatives and player officers after a group of players questioned Saskin’s appointment and a subsequent vote that was not conducted by secret ballot, as required by the NHLPA constitution.
But now Lanza, who represents a group of players that includes Chris Chelios, Dwayne Roloson and Shawn McEachern, said the vote being taken violates the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act, because the dissidents have been denied the right to communicate their message with the voting members.
The LMRDA provides that union members, including groups opposing the union leadership, have equal rights to participate in union activities. “The bottom line is the opposition has a right to get their message out to the membership in some meaningful way,” said Barbara Harvey, a Detroit labor attorney.
But Saskin has denied the dissident NHL players access to the players’ Web site and has refused to give them contact information for the player representatives at the 30 NHL clubs who are conducting the vote, according to Lanza and some players.
Lanza, on behalf of the NHL players, has filed an unfair labor practices charge against the NHLPA with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging that the current operation of the union “results in favoritism for certain members” and that the union “has ignored all requests for information” from members. The player group also has filed a complaint with the Department of Labor.
NHLPA spokesman Jonathan Weatherdon would not comment on whether the union’s denial of access to union communication channels violates labor laws.
Meanwhile, the dissident group plans to launch a players-only Web site, starting today, to get its message out, Lanza said.
Saskin was first appointed executive director on July 28. After some players questioned his hiring, the NHLPA held a conference call on Aug. 31 in which there was a vote for Saskin. But that vote violated the provision in the NHLPA constitution calling for a secret vote of the 30 player representatives and the seven player officers.
Saskin announced another vote on Sept. 12, and said a few days later that the results would likely be known within a week.
But as of late last week, a month after the vote was first announced, there was still no news on the result.
Weatherdon said he could not answer questions about what was taking so long, but said the ballots are being counted by accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.
The New York Post reported that the New York Rangers would vote against Saskin and that the Islanders were withholding their vote for now. There have been rumors that some teams voted after having conference calls or meetings with Saskin and/or NHLPA player president Trevor Linden, a staunch Saskin supporter.
Weatherdon said, “At the request of some player representatives, Ted Saskin has been meeting with a few teams in order to answer some questions that they have.”
Ducks player Jean-Sebastien Giguere told SportsBusiness Journal, “We had a conference call and we took a vote and we voted in favor of Ted’s contract.” Weatherdon said Saskin did not participate in the conference call.
The Nashville Predators took a vote “right away,” said player representative Scott Walker. But Walker said he did not know the results of the vote because the ballots were sent without being tallied.
There have reports that the Toronto Maple Leafs, a number of whom are among the dissidents, have withheld their vote.
The Detroit Red Wings also were withholding their ballots. “We still have not voted and we are not going to vote until Ted [Saskin] starts releasing information,” said Chelios, the Red Wings alternate player representative, last week.
Chelios said there are now about 100 players who support the dissident group, out of a total NHL player work force of 700.
“Our whole issue is that we are voting on something that the players have no voice in,” Chelios said. The union “is not allowing the players to communicate with each other,” he said.
Staff writer Andy Bernstein contributed to this report.
