Labor Unions and Hockey (What I did tonight)

This evening, Eva and I went to a San Jose Sharks home game against the Colorado Avalanche. The two players I was most interested in are not particularly talented goal scorers, passers, fighters or checkers. But they play a very important role on each team. Logan Couture, for the Sharks, and Logan O'Connor, on the Avalanche, are each team's representative to NHL Player's Association (NHLPA). The NHLPA is the union that represents the interests of the players towards league management -- the only reason it's not called a Union is that when it was founded in 1967, the players did not want to associate themselves with organized labor, because they feared that would make them sound weak. Hockey players are strong! They don't need the protection of organized labor! Except that they do, and collective bargaining is the reason pro athletes are able to rake in such unbelievably lucrative contracts. Before the NHLPA came into existence, players earned poverty wages. Bosses would guilt players by reminding them how lucky they were to be able to "do what they love for a living" and encourage players to believe that they would be selfish to ask for anything more than mere crumbs. This history is fabulously related in the movie "Net Worth," based on the book of the same title.

Anyway, the NHLPA is a hugely important player in determining player salaries and working conditions. I have been eager to learn more how exactly it works. From a fairly cursory internet search, I have gleaned that there is an executive committee, which consists of one player from each team. The Logans (Couture and O'Connor) are their teams' representatives. I am curious to learn more about what it looks like to be a Player Representative on the Executive Board during the season and during the off-season. Who is advocating for the 32 hour work week? What kinds of demands is the ExCom making these days? Generally, I am interested in the intersection of organized labor and politics. 26 year old Marxist Yonatan meets 12 year old Yonatan the Hockey Fan ... Maybe some magazine will pay me to attend NHLPA meetings. Or maybe I'll manage to sneak myself in. I want to be paid like an NHL player!