‘Final’ amended CBA given to players

Union director says league’s offer more like an ultimatum

Commissioner Randy Ambrosie and the CFL have put the CFL Players’ Association back on the clock.

Ambrosie said Tuesday the league tabled a final amended collective bargaining agreement to the players Monday night, a deal that will remain on the table until midnight on Thursday.

He added the new contract addressed the biggest concerns the CFLPA membership had with the previous proposal: the implementation of a ratification bonus and changing the Canadian ratio.

Ambrosie said the amended offer contains a $1-million ratification bonus pool for players. It also reduces the proposed number of nationalized Canadians — Americans who’ve spent either four years in the CFL or at least three with the same team — from four to one while also cutting back on the number of Canadian starters from seven to six.

And that’s not expected to sit well with CFL players. On Monday, they rejected a tentative seven-year agreement between the league and their union that called for Canadian starters to increase to eight, including one nationalized Canadian. In addition, three other nationalized Canadians could play up to 49 per cent of all snaps on either side of the ball.

“We know our roster challenges don’t surface when all of your players are healthy,” Ambrosie said. “But ours is a collision sport where players get hurt and once you get deeper into your roster, often those players aren’t quite ready.

“That’s why we protected all of the roster spots to make sure Canadians have the chance to be on rosters and train and develop themselves. This protects Canadian jobs, which all of our teams felt strongly about. It rewards American athletes for a contribution they make to our teams and communities.”

CFLPA executive director Brian Ramsay said the league’s offer was more like an ultimatum and not a partnership which the league has often maintained has been its goal in contract talks.

“Yes this is an ultimatum with a deadline,” Ramsay said. “It feels very much like the way the old CFL does business.

“I think a partnership creates solutions. Right now, our members are still on the field as we try to create solutions while the CFL issues ultimatums. Coming out publicly like this isn’t the right approach. They did try this May 14 and it didn’t work then and we’re confident through our player reps that our membership will see that now.”

The league and union reached a tentative agreement Wednesday, four days after players with seven of the league’s nine teams went on strike. It marked just the second work stoppage in league history and first since 1974.

The CFL’s exhibition schedule is slated to open Friday night with the Toronto Argonauts visiting the Ottawa Redblacks and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers entertaining the Edmonton Elks.

But it’s difficult to see any games being played if the players turn down the league’s latest offer. A longer second work stoppage would also put the June 9 regular-season start in jeopardy.

Ambrosie said if the deal is rejected and players go back on strike, they’ll be served notice to vacate their respective training-camp facilities.

“That’s not something we want to do,” Ambrosie said. “Essentially this would be a second strike … and by that point we’ll be starting to suffer revenue losses and many things change for us.