T-Birds’ general manager seeks legislative victory

Russ Farwell looks forward to wins on and off the ice this spring with the Kent-based Seattle Thunderbirds junior hockey team.

As the T-Birds near the end of the Western Hockey League regular season at the ShoWare Center and soon will open the playoffs against the Portland Winterhawks or Everett Silvertips, Farwell, the general manager, keeps a close watch on the state Legislature as well.

Farwell and the owners of the Everett, Spokane and Tri-Cities teams are lobbying the Legislature to pass a bill that clarifies the players are amateur athletes and not paid employees who should be paid minimum wage and fall under state child labor laws for those under age 18. Players are ages 16-20.

An ongoing investigation by the state Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) into whether child labor laws have been broken by the teams caused the WHL owners to go to legislators for support.

“It’s not a change but clarifying what we’ve been doing for 37 years,” Farwell said during a phone interview. “Thirteen of our guys couldn’t have played this season under state law (for employees) ages 16-17. Anyone under 18 cannot work after 10 p.m., have limited times when they can travel and limited hours they can work.”

Losing the young players would blow up the business model used by the WHL, Farwell said.

The Senate voted 47-0 on March 3 in Olympia to approve Senate bill 5893 that would exempt WHL players being classified as employees. As of Tuesday, the House had yet to vote on House bill 1930, its version of the legislation.

Farwell expects the L&I investigation to go away if the Legislature approves a new law to keep the players as amateur athletes.

“I think it will clear it up,” said Farwell, who testified last month at hearings in Olympia about the bills. “L&I had a representative at the hearings. They gave advice on the language. They’d like it cleared up, too.

“We’ve given them (L&I) a reply to their inquiries. It (the investigation) is on hold until we see what happens with the legislation.”

Randy Gumbley, of Toronto, Ontario, contacted the Kent Reporter after reading an initial story last month about the WHL’s efforts to get the Legislature to pass a bill. Gumbley is a former owner of an Ontario Junior Hockey League team. That league and the WHL are part of the Canadian Hockey League. He has helped with unsuccessful efforts to try to unionize CHL players in Canada. Many of the WHL players are from Canada.

“The owners are attempting to circumvent a law set up to protect employees from this practice so they don’t take advantage of kids,” Gumbley said in a phone interview. “The players work 60 to 70 hours per week. They say it’s OK for hockey players to be considered amateurs. Why is it only OK for hockey? What about aspiring chefs?”

Maybe McDonald’s could consider its employees amateurs who don’t need to be paid minimum wage or adhere to child labor laws for those under 18 because they are trying to become chefs, Gumbley said.

L&I started an investigation of the WHL teams in the winter of 2013 after someone filed a complaint about possible violations of child labor laws because the players put in so many hours of practice and games with basically no pay.

“It is a child labor investigation,” said Matthew Erlich, L&I spokesman, in an email. “Issues in child labor cases often involve supervision, duties and hours of work.”

No one’s complaining

No parents or players have complained, Farwell said. He also said the issue of pay or child labor law violations never came up in two previous L&I investigations, including one only a few years ago after the team moved to Kent from Seattle in 2009.

Gumbley disputes players should be considered amateurs because those who sign early with the NHL and play in the WHL do receive signing bonuses and pay from the NHL teams.

Shea Theodore, of the T-Birds, signed a three-year entry level contract with the Anaheim Ducks after they drafted him in 2013. The contract was for $2.7 million, with a $277,500 signing bonus and an average annual salary of $925,000, according to spotrac.com, which tracks contracts of pro athletes.

“There’s no way kids like that could be amateur,” Gumbley said.

The NCAA considers players in the WHL to be professionals. That’s the reason any player who plays in the WHL becomes ineligible to play in American colleges.

“That’s because of our drafted and signed players,” Farwell said about the NCAA rule. “But they all can play for World Junior (amatuer) teams. That’s an old rule in place.”

Canadian colleges do not have such a rule so many former WHL players who don’t make the NHL play for Canadian schools, Farwell said.

“Even American kids go up there to play,” Farwell said.

WHL teams provide players with a weekly stipend of about $50 per week. All equipment and travel costs are covered and players receive a year of paid post-secondary education for each season they play. They stay with host families at no cost to the players.

About eight former T-Birds players are in colleges or trade schools now, including a pilot school and a technical college, Farwell said.

“They get expense money and we pay their room and board and all costs,” he said. “We fly them home at Christmas time and they receive the scholarships.”

Gumbley promised to keep up the fight even if the Legislature passes a new law.

“I’m not going to lie down,” he said. “We’ll take it to the Supreme Court and the AFLCIO if they pass a law. It’s unconstitutional. …They are making a bill specific to one organization.”