CFLPA tells players with 7 teams not to report to camps as contract talks break down

Hold that thought.

Training camps across the CFL were scheduled to start Sunday, but that won’t be happening for seven teams, barring a late-night miracle Saturday.

Labour talks between the CFL and the CFL Players’ Association broke off Saturday evening, prompting the players’ union to tell its members not to report to camp.

“In an effort to update its members as soon as possible with clear information, the committee has provided the direction to not report for camps (where provincial labour laws allow) now because there remain too many key items outstanding that must still be negotiated before 12:01 a.m. on Sunday morning,” the union said in a media advisory Saturday night.

“The CFLPA bargaining team has maintained, since early in collective negotiations, that its membership does not wish to attend training camps without a new and fair collective agreement in place before the current agreement expires on May 14.”

Players with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, B.C. Lions, Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Toronto Argonauts, Ottawa Redblacks and Montreal Alouettes won’t be at camp unless an agreement is reached overnight.

Labour laws in Alberta require workers to give 72 hours notice for a strike or management to give 72 hours notice for a lockout, so players with the Calgary Stampeders and Edmonton Elks are to be at camp as scheduled.

But those players are expected to join their counterparts on the sidelines in the coming days — again, unless a deal can be hammered out in the near future.

“Every effort continues to be made by the CFLPA bargaining committee to reach a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the CFL on a new and fair collective agreement before the current one expires at 12:01 a.m. on Sunday, May 15,” the union wrote.

The CFLPA’s release said the union gave the league written notice in February that it was ready to start bargaining, but pointed out the CFL agreed to meet for the first time only in late March. The union said it “has remained diligent” to keep negotiations on track, but a deal couldn’t be reached before the previous one expired.

“The CFLPA bargaining committee remains prepared to do whatever is necessary and to work as hard as possible to get to a fair, new agreement and get CFLPA members back to work as soon as possible,” the union wrote.

On the other side of the table, the league laid out its latest proposal to the union in a letter from commissioner Randy Ambrosie to the CFL’s fans and its players.

Ambrosie said the league’s offer would increase players’ salaries by more than $24 million over the seven-year term of the agreement and also included “an opportunity to share in revenue increases as we successfully work together to grow the league.”

According to the letter, the financial part of the offer includes:

• $18.9 million in total guaranteed increases to the salary cap league-wide;
• $5.94 million in guaranteed compensation paid for community outreach and promotional appearances league-wide;
• An opportunity for 25 per cent of all revenue growth over an agreed-upon threshold to be added to the salary cap starting in 2023;
• The league’s minimum salary would increase to $70,000 in 2023 and $75,000 in 2027; and,
• Teams would be allowed to re-sign their veterans to partially guaranteed contracts, marking the first time in league history those deals would be offered.

The league also is offering teams the chance to take an American player (but not a quarterback) who has been in the CFL for at least four years or has played with the same team for at least three years and turn him into what the league called a “Nationalized American.”

That player would count as a national and would join the other 20 or 21 Canadians on the roster.

Each team would start seven nationals, comprising either seven Canadians or six Canucks and the nationalized player. The roster also would include three quarterbacks of any nationality, 19 Americans and up to two global players.

Canadians who start at quarterback would count as a national.

The roster changes would start in 2023.

The proposal also included an updated Code of Conduct the league said would apply to “all members of the CFL Community, including fans, instead of just players.”

“An agreement based on this offer helps everyone across the CFL,” the letter said. “Fans can expect improved roster continuity, something that has been a top priority for them for years. Our clubs will be able to consistently market their star players, with more confidence they could re-sign.

“But this is about you and your career, first and foremost. That’s why this offer protects roster spots for our great Canadian players who mean so much to the CFL, it celebrates the veteran American players who have built careers here, and it includes increases for all players, including players paid the league minimum.”

Ambrosie’s letter called the offer “a win-win” and suggested it was a chance for the players and league to move forward together after two COVID-altered seasons. The 2020 campaign was cancelled and the 2021 season was shortened.