The CFL has decided not to meet with the CFLPA until April 29 regarding collective bargaining agreement discussions.

The players’ union was open to meeting prior to that date, but the league decided otherwise.

The CFLPA sent out a memo to all of it’s union members:

To all CFL players,

We have spent this past Monday and Tuesday in Vancouver where we continued negotiations.

We want to make you aware that the CFL has unilaterally decided to delay negotiations. They have indicated that they will not be available to meet the week of April 15 or April 22.

We recognize that training camps open on May 19, and actually May 15 for rookies and quarterbacks. While our bargaining team is prepared to meet and work hard to get a deal finalized, this decision is disappointing and makes tangible progress difficult. Despite the choices of the CFL, our bargaining team remains focused and will continue to work hard, meet and prepare.

A united players association is very powerful. We have created and included videos here that we will release publicly later today. We hope these videos serve as a reminder to everyone involved in these negotiations that players should be partners in this game as that is the best and only way to make the League better.

It is important we are all working toward a fair and reasonable collective agreement.

Summary of timeline to date and ahead:

Collective negotiations officially began on March 11-12 in Toronto. There have been five rounds of negotiations in: Toronto (March 11-12), Calgary (March 18-19), Vancouver (March 25-26), Toronto (April 1-2) and Vancouver (April 8-9). Negotiations started with bargaining language and have since evolved into non-monetary issues (e.g. player health, safety, wellbeing etc.). CFL Training Camps officially open on May 19 (rookie camps open May 15) and the current CBA will expire on May 18.

In solidarity,

CFLPA Bargaining Committee

#TeamCFLPA

The current CBA expires on May 18, ending a five-year agreement that was ratified on June 13, 2014 – nearly a month after the original deadline.