Kukla's Korner Hockey
The lockout will hurt game-night staff the most
by George Malik on 08/23/12 at 03:33 PM ET
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Hockey fans have every right to feel like they’re being abused, taken advantage of and plain old screwed by the NHL and NHLPA as we slowly move toward what seems like a more and more inevitable lockout, but when it comes to the battle between billionaires and millionaires, I think of one group of people when I’m asked who gets truly “screwed over” in any sort of “work stoppage”—game night employees at each and every one of the NHL’s 30 rinks. From the people who work in the parking garage to security, ticket-takers, concessions staff, ushers, radio, TV and online broadcasters, in-rink productions staff, scorekeepers, all the people teams’ front offices have working behind the scenes on game nights to write and print programs, haul merchandise, work the phones and make sure the players have towels and water bottles, to the janitors and clean-up crew and arena workers who fix seats and keep the lights on…
For the people who depend on 41 regular season games, 4 or 5 preseason games and any potential playoff games, a lockout means the difference between getting by and not being able to pay their bills, and as the Sporting News’s Jesse Spector suggests, both game-night employees and team staff will truly suffer sans games to work:
If NHL players find themselves locked out after the league’s collective bargaining agreement expires on Sept. 15, they will have other options for how to make a living, namely in European leagues. Team employees have no such fallback possibilities, and figure to be the real losers—along with the game itself—in the event of a work stoppage.
The Calgary Sun confirmed that on Thursday, with a report the Flames have put full-time staffers and contract workers on notice that salary cuts are a possibility in the event of a lockout, perhaps as early as Sept. 16.
“We have a contingency plan in place—it would be stupid of us not to,” Flames president and CEO Ken King told the Sun. “What we would attempt to do is affect as few people as possible and as minimally as possible. The plan is quite generous in that some people it won’t affect at all.”
At least those full-time employees would still have jobs, or the option to take unpaid sabbaticals, in the event of a lockout. Seasonal workers, such as concession vendors, parking attendants and security guards, stand to simply not be hired in many cities if the NHL and NHLPA cannot work out a deal. The Flames have 1,200 part-time employees.
“In the event there are events that don’t take place, those part-timers will have less hours,” King said. “Some full-time people won’t be affected at all as their assignments are such they can be redeployed or still be productive and remain useful for themselves and us.”
One thing in Calgary employees’ favor is that the Flames also own the Calgary Hitmen of the junior-level Western Hockey League, the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League and the Calgary Roughnecks lacrosse team. Workers in other cities may not be so fortunate.
For people here in Detroit,Joe Louis Arena does host concerts and other events, but the Wings are their moneymaker, and for many employees, Wings games are their source of sometimes primary employment.
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Seasonal workers, such as concession vendors, parking attendants and security guards, stand to simply not be hired in many cities if the NHL and NHLPA cannot work out a deal.
And these are the people that Buttman and his gang of thugs never, ever think about when they’re pushing the league to the edge of a lockout. And why should they? Buttman will still get his $8M salary – and his thugs will get theirs as well.
So who cares if Joe or Sue Smith lose their gig making a hundred bucks a night schlepping hot dogs and beer up and down the arena steps? They can just “suffer” along with everyone else until Buttman’s goons extract the last possible penny from the guys who actually make hockey a great game.
There’s a special place in Hell for assholes like Bettman. And the sooner he gets there, the better it will be for the game of hockey.
Posted by OlderThanChelios from Grand Rapids, MI on 08/23/12 at 09:08 PM ET
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At least this guy’s job, who paints ‘Thanks you fans” on ice, is secure.
Posted by detroitredwings on 08/23/12 at 04:39 PM ET