If the CHL is unionized, small market teams like the Raiders are doomed
Unifor, Canada’s biggest private sector union which represents 300,000 workers in several industries, is looking to unionize the CHL.
If they’re successful, it could mean the beginning of the end for the Prince Albert Raiders—as well as many other small market teams in the all three of CHL’s leagues, the WHL, the OHL and the QMJHL.
Unifor is looking to require the CHL to play its players minimum wage, which could cost Saskatchewan-based teams in excess of $230,000 per year—an expense that would be a death blow to small market teams.
In an interview with TSN, Unifor president Jerry Dias estimated that the average full-time job amounts to 2,000 hours per year, meaning a hockey player would put in roughly 1,000 hours per season.