INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) -- The Indy Fuel's hockey season maybe be coming to a holiday halt. ECHL players say they are set to go on strike starting Friday, when the league returns from holiday break.
According to the Associated Press, the Professional Hockey Players Association said they would strike after the holiday break due to an impasse in contract negations with the league.
"Our members have made it very clear that they've had enough," Brian Ramsay, executive director of the PHPA, said on a video call with reporters. "Unfortunately, this is a league that would rather bully us than bargain."
The sides appeared no closer to a resolution Tuesday based on an update from Ramsay, even after he said the PHPA offered the option of reaching a settlement through mediation.
"The ECHL responded within minutes, rejecting any interest in this solution and demanding 'significant movement' and concessions from the players," Ramsay said in a released statement. "This approach continues to align with the increased threats our membership has faced over the past 18 hours."
Contract talks began in January and their collective bargaining agreement expired in June. The PHPA is accusing the league of unfair bargaining practices, including most recently contacting players directly with proposals, a move that was reported to the National Labor Relations Board.
The players are looking for higher pay and basic standard around health, safety and working conditions. The union accuses teams of not providing properly fitting helmets and supplying some players with used equipment. They are also asking for more days off after long travel days.
"This is a league that has taken almost a year to concede that we should be entitled to choose helmets that properly fit us and are safe," Ramsay said in a statement posted Monday. "This is the league that still supplies our members with used equipment. This is a league that shows no concern for players' travels and in fact has said the nine-hour bus trip home should be considered your day off. We have had members this year spend 28 hours-plus on a bus to play back-to-back games on a Friday and Saturday night, only to be paid less than the referees who work those very same games."
The ECHL posted details of its latest proposal on its website Monday, saying it calls to raise the salary cap 16.4% this season. The league said it has also offered mandatory off-days, a provision to let every team provide custom sticks and better quality helmets, and a 325-mile limit for travel between back-to-back games.
"Negotiations have been progressing but not as quickly as we would like," the ECHL said. "We have reached a number of tentative agreements and remain focused on reaching a comprehensive new agreement that supports our players and the long-term health of every team in our league."
The ECHL, formerly known as the East Coast Hockey League and now going just by the acronym, is a North American developmental league that is two levels below the NHL, with the American Hockey League in between. There are 30 teams, 29 of which are in the U.S. and one in Canada in Trois-Rivières, Quebec.
In a statement posted to the NHL Players' Association Instagram, the union "stands in solidarity with the PHPA during the negations with the ECHL...it is imperative that the ECHL abandon their current attempts to threaten players and return immediately to the bargaining table."
The Indy Fuel are next scheduled to play on Friday at the Fort Wayne's Komets. The next scheduled home game is Sunday against the Toledo Walleye.