The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service ("FMCS") and its Deputy Director, Scot L. Beckenbaugh, were instrumental in resolving the recent dispute between the National Hockey League ("NHL") and the National Hockey League Players' Association ("NHLPA"). The dispute arose in July 2012 when the NHL and NHLPA began discussing a new collective bargaining agreement. The dispute hinged, amongst other things, on setting the players' 2013-2014 salary cap, determining the maximum length of players' contracts, amending free agency rules, and resolving issues relating to the pension plan. FMCS became involved in the dispute in November 2012. Allison Alcasabas (partner) and Annemarie Jones (associate) from our New York office report on this development.
The deal was brokered after Mr. Beckenbaugh met with both parties in New York City for over 28 total hours on 4-5 January. Mr. Beckenbaugh, who has been with the FMCS since 1988, brought to the table his experience in mediating agreements in the cereal, heavy equipment manufacturing, aluminum and meat packing industries to help the parties reach a preliminary deal. FMCS has not disclosed the details of the agreement.