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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Union, NHL bicker in Alberta
Bill Daly (THE CANADIAN PRESS)
EDMONTON -- The NHL players' union says the argument is simple: Alberta labour laws apply to the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames.
The NHL Players' Association was in Edmonton on Friday to try to get the Alberta Labour Relations Board to declare the current lockout illegal.
NHLPA lawyer Bob Blair told the panel that the teams are Alberta businesses, so provincial labour laws have to be followed.
"No one gets to choose what labour laws apply to them in this province," Blair said. "The law is the law is the law."
He argued that players from the Oilers and Flames have never agreed to forgo their rights under the Alberta Labour Code.
"It applies to every employer and employee. That is the starting point."
A lawyer for the NHL argued that it's impossible for a league spanning two countries to operate under different laws for each franchise. Peter Gall pointed out that 23 of the 30 teams are in the United States, where labour laws are federally regulated.
The league has always operated under U.S. labour law, he said. The board heard U.S. Federal Court is the final arbiter of any grievances under the contract.
"So all of the players on all of the teams have been included in one bargaining unit," Gall said. "The NHLPA has never bargained with individual teams. It has only bargained with the NHL."
Bill Daly, the league's deputy commissioner, told the panel that there's never been any individual bargaining between players and their teams.
He said it's important that all teams operate under the same rules.
Blair countered by saying the way the league and union have operated in the past is irrelevant.
Blair also pointed out that the NHL had itself applied for a mediator under Alberta labour over the summer in order to ensure it complied with the letter of the province's law.
About half a dozen players attended the hearing, including Oilers forward Sam Gagner, goaltender Devan Dubnyk and veteran Ryan Smyth.
-- The Canadian Press
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition September 22, 2012 C2
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