Recently it was revealed that the Professional Hockey Players Association, which represents the AHL and ECHL players was threatening a players strike in the ECHL in protest of what they considered “unfair labor practices”. Monday afternoon, the PHPA issued an official statement on behalf of the players.
“To Our Loyal Fans,
We want to update you on the state of our negotiations with the ECHL.
We have been bargaining since January 2025, and find ourselves unable to secure a new collective agreement due to the league’s ongoing unfair labor practices, which have undermined the bargaining process.
The league’s unlawful conduct dates back to late spring/early summer when the league made unilateral changes related to mandatory subjects of bargaining and began engaging in regressive bargaining. This prompted the PHPA to file an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board with the hope of remedying this conduct and restoring lawful bargaining.
Unfortunately, this has remained a pattern. Over the course of negotiations, the league has resisted basic player safety and working condition issues.
It has taken almost a year to persuade the league that we should be entitled to choose helmets that properly fit us. We still have clubs supplying members with used equipment. The league shows no concern or regard for players’ travel schedule and has said that the nine-hour bus trip home should be considered our day off. Until a few days ago, the league was not prepared to give us a day off per week, and they refused to negotiate a meaningful holiday break that allows players to be home with our families, which would be consistent with professional hockey in North America.
These are matters that directly affect players’ health, safety, and ability to perform their job.
In addition, the league’s economic proposals to date put players below where inflation has taken us since the last collective agreement was signed prior to COVID. We also gave the league a two year, no cost extension, to assist them in recovery.
Most concerning, instead of spending time negotiating with our bargaining committee this week, the league sent at least two direct communications to players through team management regarding bargaining-related matters, in an attempt to bully and intimidate players with tactics that violate US labor law. These communications bypassed the players’ bargaining representative and contained statements that were inaccurate and inappropriate. As a result, the PHPA has filed yet another unfair labor practice charge with the NLRB addressing the league’s direct dealing with bargaining unit members and its coercive conduct.
Many players have shared that they feel disrespected, undervalued, and taken for granted.
As of today, after reviewing the league’s most recent response, there has been no meaningful movement toward a fair resolution.
The ECHL appears by their behavior to prefer bullying to bargaining and does not respect the process nor the players’ right to negotiate a fair settlement.
With gratitude and respect,
ECHL Players.”
Just a few hours later, the PHPA announced that the players officially voted to go on strike effective Friday.
“The Professional Hockey Players’ Association announced today that its ECHL membership has served a strike notice effective December 26, 2025, following a strike authorization mandate delivered on December 18, 2025.
As a result of the league’s ongoing unfair labor practices, the PHPA’s ECHL membership has been forced to take this step to protect the integrity of the bargaining process.”
PHPA Executive Director Brian Ramsay issued the following statement:
“We have informed the ECHL that we are willing to continue discussions to resolve all outstanding matters. For several months, we have been engaged in bargaining with the league, and their unlawful and coercive conduct throughout this process has been incredibly disappointing. We are asking for basic standards around health, safety and working conditions that allow the players to remain healthy, compete at a high level and build sustainable professional careers. Our members have never been more united and remain ready to return to the bargaining table at any time. We sincerely hope the ECHL will engage in good-faith negotiations so a fair agreement can be reached and any disruption to the season can be avoided.”
We here at PHN have also reached out to multiple players in the ECHL, though obviously none of them were willing to go on the record, the sentiment was clear, the players feel these demands are simple and if things do not change they are absolutely prepared to go on strike for as long as it takes.
Related