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NHL files class action complaint, unfair labor charge against NHLPA

Gary Bettman; Bill Daly; Bob Betterman

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, left, leaves the NHLPA offices with Assistant Commissioner Bill Daly (left) and NHL lawyer Bob Betterman following collective bargaining in Toronto on Thursday, Oct. 18, 2012. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Chris Young)

AP

Let the legal wrangling begin.

From the NHL:

“Today, in response to information indicating that NHL Players have or will be asked to vote to authorize the National Hockey League Players’ Association’s Executive Board to proceed to ‘disclaim interest’ in continuing to represent the Players in collective bargaining, the National Hockey League filed a Class Action Complaint in Federal Court in New York seeking a Declaration confirming the ongoing legality of the lockout.

“Simultaneously with the filing of its Complaint, the NHL also filed an Unfair Labor Practice Charge with the National Labor Relations Board alleging that by threatening to ‘disclaim interest,’ the NHLPA has engaged in an unlawful subversion of the collective bargaining process and conduct that constitutes bad faith bargaining under the National Labor Relations Act.”

How this all shakes out nobody knows.

However, it’s worth noting that the NHL is responding very similarly to the way the NBA responded in November of 2011 when the NBPA began disbanding. Less than two weeks later, the two sides reached a tentative agreement to end the basketball lockout and the season started on Dec. 25.