The NHLPA wrapped two days of Executive Board and Negotiation
Committee meetings in New York on Thursday, a meeting that saw 283
Players attend for an update on the on-going collective bargaining
negotiations.
In what is the largest turnout for a
non-ratification vote meeting in the history of the NHLPA, the players
were able to hear directly from Executive Director Don Fehr as well as
other NHLPA staff on the status of the negotiations with the NHL. The
players were able to voice their opinions, ask important questions and
determine the next steps as the NHL imposed lockout deadline of
September 15th quickly approaches.
The meetings came in the
midst of an extremely busy week, as CBA negotiations resumed between the
PA and the league at the NHL’s offices on Wednesday. The NHLPA made
another proposal in this bargaining session in an attempt to gain
traction ahead of the “deadline”, and also received an offer from the
NHL in the same session.
The Players’ latest proposal, which
includes significant concessions on future salary growth as a means to
help the league deal with some of the lower-revenue markets and set the
business on a solid footing for the future, as well as adding two years
to the initial three-year term the PA proposed resulting in a five-year
pact, were dismissed by the NHL and the owners.
The meetings
reaffirmed the strong sense of unity amongst the membership and allowed
the players to catch-up with many teammates and on-ice opponents, as
almost half of all current active players were in attendance.
With the meetings now concluded, players have begun returning to their
home cities or the cities where they play, to continue training, skating
and to update teammates who were unable to attend.