Those who know me well know I never watch hockey; I have nothing against it, I’m just not interested in televised sports.
From a labour perspective the hockey dispute between the players and owners is kind of interesting.
Here’s a group of billionaire owners fighting with millionaire players over approximately $300 million in revenue; that’s the difference between 57 per cent versus 47 per cent of $3.2B.
Neither party is suffering as a result of the current revenue split nor will either party’s lives be greatly enhanced or harmed if the revenue split is altered.
However, thousands of regular people who rely on their jobs that support the NHL will lose their salaries and it will impact their lives significantly.
What’s most interesting to me is the deafening silence from the federal Conservatives.
They are quick to jump in and force people back to work when the middle class threatens to strike against corporations, sighting irreparable damage to the economy, but have absolutely nothing to say when the actions of millionaires and billionaires affect the lively hoods of thousand of middleclass Canadians.
The government should keep their noses out of collective bargaining, but why the double standard?
Chuck Macklon
President, USW Local 9705
Trail
