PLAYERS TAKE DEAL
Despite misgivings among some players, union votes in favour of new agreement.
SASKATOON — The CFL Players’ Association has ratified a new collective bargaining agreement with the CFL.
The ratification vote was needed to approve a tentative CBA that was negotiated between the CFLPA and the CFL on the weekend. Late Thursday, the CFLPA confirmed that the proposed CBA had been ratified. The league’s owners are expected to conduct their vote today. It’s expected to pass and the CFL’s 2014 season will continue without any work stoppages.
There wasn’t a breakdown of the voting on Thursday. The majority of players (50 per cent plus one) and six of the nine teams were required to support the CBA for it to be ratified.
The players apparently ratified a CBA that had rankled many of its members. The CFL and the CFLPA agreed to a $5-million salary cap with nominal $50,000 annual increases carrying through 2018. The union initially proposed a $6.24-million cap and it dropped to $5.8 million and further to $5.2 million before accepting the league’s salary offer during bargaining sessions on the weekend.
The CBA is not what the players were seeking, judging by the objections they had voiced or tweeted. The players wanted a bigger share of the league’s new revenue, including a deal with TSN worth $43 million a season over five years. The previous deal was reportedly worth $17 million.
The Riders, like the other CFL teams, conducted their vote via email on Thursday. Some of their players were among the most vocal about expressing their displeasure with the proposed CBA.
Player representative Brendon LaBatte wasn’t sure if the Riders would support the CBA when meeting with reporters earlier Thursday. How the Riders voted individually may never be known.
“It’s tough to say because it’s a secretive ballot,’’ LaBatte said. “What they vote, no one will ever know.’’
The Riders may have been swayed by two meetings with the CFLPA representatives to answer concerns regarding the CBA. Mike McCullough, a player representative before retiring after 11 seasons with the Riders prior to training camp, met with players on Tuesday. Marwan Hage, the CFLPA vice-president, then held a meeting with the Riders on Wednesday afternoon.
“(The meeting) helped address some of the concerns,’’ said guard Chris Best. “A lot of guys were in the dark in terms of what was going on. Some guys don’t even check their emails all off-season so they really didn’t know what was going on. It really helped to clarify what the CFL was offering and the differences between our two points of view. It was really helpful.’’
LaBatte didn’t think the players would be happy regardless of what took place last night.
“There is definitely going to be one side that isn’t happy with the outcome,’’ LaBatte said.
The football side of training camp — at least the Saskatoon portion of it — ends this morning. The Riders have a walk-through at Griffiths Stadium before returning to Regina.
They are to play the Ottawa Redblacks in the first pre-season game of the year for both teams at Mosaic Stadium on Saturday. Training camp is to resume on Monday at Mosaic Stadium.
General manager Brendan Taman is looking forward to seeing the players he has been watching at training camp perform in a live game.
“(The game) is one piece of the puzzle, but it’s a big piece,’’ Taman said. “It’s always good to play games because it’s a real test of the guys. Like every year, you’ll get guys who practised pretty well, but don’t show up in the games and vice-versa. Hopefully the weather is OK and we’ll get a good chance to evaluate them.’’