It's likely that the bulk of veteran Hamilton Tiger-Cats will not report to training camp until there is a new contract between the league and its players union.

"I wouldn't come," American linebacker Simoni Lawrence, one of the most popular Ticats, told The Spectator on Monday. "I wouldn't just go work for free. There's a lot of stuff that needs to be taken care of before I could go back up to play. I need to know there's a CBA, know who's playing, and how we're playing. I just can't show up having faith, until the deal's done."

The collective bargaining agreement between the CFL and the CFL Players Association expires May 18, the day before training camps are scheduled to open. Last week, partially in response to what it says was the league's unilateral withdrawal from negotiations until next Monday, the union asked its players not to travel to training camps without a formal deal.

Adrian Tracy, Hamilton's CFLPA chapter chair, says "all the (Ticat) players I've spoken to so far are against reporting if there is no CBA."

Fellow defensive end Justin Capicciotti, a Canadian, told The Spectator he won't be at training camp at McMaster, "if the players association asks us not to. I don't think anyone will go against what the PA advises. I've trusted the PA to have our backs for years and to go against what they say would not be very wise for any of us."

Many of the league's highest-profile and highest-paid players, including premier linebacker Solomon Elimimian and quarterbacks Bo Levi Mitchell and Mike Reilly, have already stated they won't report without a signed CBA. Historically in pro sports labour relations, support from stars has been imperative to union solidarity.

Tiger-Cats owner Bob Young couldn't be reached for comment Monday but Young has tweeted that CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie "has too much respect for the players and the process to comment publicly" on negotiations.

Among the more contentious issues are long-term disability support, health and safety regulations, the salary cap, (currently $5.2 million per team), salary guarantees, massive free agency and some parts of commissioner Randy Ambrosie's CFL 2.0 plan.

Some Ticats told The Spectator that the league probably anticipates that players' individual and collective resolve would be weakened if they are already in camp and faced with the prospect of providing their own accommodation and travel if there's a strike.

On Wednesday players — those on any CFL team's regular, injury or practice rosters — will take part in an online ratification vote to put them in legal position to strike once the current agreement expires.

That's a routine step in most management-labour contract negotiations. Because the players appear to have become more unified in recent months, the vote is expected to go heavily in favour of ratification.

No one from the Tiger-Cats or CFL was available to talk to The Spectator on Monday about whether training camps would still be held if players boycott. They probably would be, because planning is done well in advance and training camp rosters include a large number of players new to the league.

While both sides are using the strongest tactical tools at their disposal, the escalating brinksmanship has Tiger-Cats and CFL fans increasingly on edge. And neither side of the table can really afford a work stoppage, especially with attendance and revenue problems in the league's three biggest markets.

In December the league told its nine teams that they could sign players to contracts during the off-season but that signing bonuses, which are guaranteed income to the player, could not be paid until a new bargaining agreement was reached. Ambrosie has defended the action as a stimulus to negotiations but the union countered that it was a sign of bad faith prior to negotiations, which began only in mid-March.

In response to the withheld bonuses, the CFLPA asked its players not to participate in any CFL functions. However, they could work in their local communities and Tracy says Ticats, including him, who live here have been appearing at hospitals, schools and local charities: "We won't remove ourselves from the community our team represents."

Tracy says some players budget bonuses into their off-season plans but that the union is "even stronger and smarter" than it was a few months ago.

"Because it's basically entertainment and in the media, people forget football is still people's livelihoods, how they feed their families," he said. "If it was any other sector, would people be coming and working when they're not going to get paid?

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"To come to training camp if there is no CBA is ridiculous. To come and function under the old CBA wouldn't bode well for meaningful discussions for a new one. We've already said it wasn't sufficient enough."

smilton@thespec.com

905-526-3268 | @miltonatthespec