CFL, players name their bargaining units for CBA talks
Contract talks between the CFL and CFL Players Association have yet to begin, but the two sides have established who will be at the table when negotiations do get underway.
No firm date has been set for the start of talks. The current collective bargaining agreement expires May 15.
Once again, the CFL’s bargaining unit will be led by Stephen Shamie, the league’s general counsel. Shamie was an integral figure in the last round of talks in 2014 with then-commissioner Mark Cohon.
In an email, the league said Randy Ambrosie, the current CFL commissioner, will join Shamie this time around along with other board members as required.
Jeff Keeping will lead the union into collective bargaining. Keeping, a former offensive lineman with Toronto, Montreal and Winnipeg, succeeded Scott Flory as CFLPA president in 2016.
Flory was in charge in 2014 during the last round of talks which resulted in the salary cap jumping from $4.4 million to $5 million with $50,000 annual increases over the five-year term of the deal. But Flory also came under fire for the union abandoning its proposals on revenue-sharing and player safety.
Also representing the union will be executive director Brian Ramsay and first vice-president Marwan Hage, both also former offensive linemen. Ramsay was named to his current post in 2016 while Hage participated in the 2014 negotiations on the players’ behalf.
Last month, Ramsay said when talks formally begin everything would be on the table. However. long-term player care and money will both be top priorities for the union.
A key figure for the CFLPA this time around is expected to be Ken Georgetti, who was named a senior adviser in 2016. Georgetti is a former president of the Canadian Labour Congress who has over 35 years of labour relations experience.
Georgetti was elected vice-president of the British Columbia Federation of Labour in 1984 and two years later became the organization’s youngest-ever president. Georgetti is an Order of Canada recipient and was the longest-serving president in CLC history.
In 2014, contract talks between the league and players were often testy. Negotiations broke down several times and there was even a threat of a players’ strike before both sides hammered out a fiveyear agreement.