Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 7/12/2018 (656 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As far as off-seasons go in the Canadian Football League, the next few months are shaping up to be some of the busiest in the league’s 60-year history.

Front offices across the nine-team league are busy trying to re-sign players, with each club working to obtain dozens of pending free agents; the most recent count had 320 of approximately 500 players in need of a new deal. But another component of the CFL set to expire soon could drastically change the direction of the Canadian game for years to come.

Indeed, time is ticking on the CFL and its collective bargaining agreement – a five-year pact signed in 2014 – which officially expires May 15.

Negotiations on a new CBA can be long and tedious and, as a result, often ignored by even the most dedicated fans. But this off-season has a much different feel to it.

To get a better idea of what the next few months could look like, the Free Press has put together a primer offering a sense of the stakes and possible outcomes.

STATUS OF NEGOTIATIONS

When Randy Ambrosie replaced Jeffrey Orridge as commissioner of the CFL in July 2017, the change in guard presented an opportunity for the Canadian Football League Player’s Association (CFLPA) to re-establish a component of the current CBA that required both sides to meet once a month. Even before Orridge, and through Mark Cohon’s tenure as commissioner from 2007 to 2015, neither side seemed to care about establishing formal meetings.

The meetings allowed for a direct line of communication between the CFLPA and the commissioner, which led to productive conversations and positive change, including eliminating padded practices and adding an extra bye week to the regular season – both seen as critical moves in ensuring improved player safety.

But those talks, which were mostly face-to-face but also happened over the phone, have stopped. The next meeting, which isn’t expected to happen until January, will mark the official beginning of CBA negotiations. The only exception would be to have an informal sit-down to tie up some last-minute thoughts, but that seems unlikely at this point.

As for a timeline, that’s easy: there isn’t one. Unless you want to count the current expiry date in May, which, historically, has been a decent barometer for when these negotiations ultimately reach an end.

Though in 2014, the last time the CBA was ratified, a deal wasn’t done until June 13, which was two weeks past the May 29 expiry date and two weeks shy of when the regular season opened on June 26. That year, there was potential for a work stoppage, as veteran players had already voted on a right to strike.

JASON FRANSON / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Ottawa Redblacks quarterback Trevor Harris walks to the dressing room after losing to the Calgary Stampeders during the 106th Grey Cup in Edmonton, Alta. Sunday, Nov. 25, 2018.

There has only been one strike since the CFLPA formed in 1965. It happened in 1974 and included the forfeiture of three weeks of training camp but even with the lost time, no regular-season games were affected.

Both sides appear eager to get together sooner rather than later, but that willingness to sit down and talk doesn’t ensure negotiations will go smoothly. Expect this one to take a while, with a work stoppage certainly not out of the realm of possibility.

HOT-TOPIC ISSUES

It’s safe to say what both sides are looking for is a fair deal. But as is the case in every intense negotiation, what’s fair for one party isn’t necessarily fair to the other. Still, there are some critical components that will surely be debated on.

At the top of the list are improvements in player safety. While eliminating full-contact padded-practices and adding a third bye week was a step in the right direction, the player’s union has hinted in recent weeks that they’ll be looking for more in this area.

That list includes better representation on the CFL’s rules committee, which is tasked to debate and implement rule changes into the game. As it stands, the CFLPA has just one of 11 votes on the committee, which has been viewed by the player’s union as an unfairly quiet voice in a group dominated by league representatives.

Long-term disability coverage will also be sought after by the CFLPA, though the union has insisted this isn’t something players feel should be used as a bargaining chip in negotiations. Instead, the union believes it should be offered to players simply as a sign of good faith that the league cares about its players. Currently, CFL players are not entitled to workers’ compensation — along with other professional athletes in Canada — and are provided just one year of coverage from the date of injury.

The Free Press, at the CFL’s state of the league address last month, asked Ambrosie why he didn’t think it was the CFL’s responsibility to cover long-term injuries that happened on the playing field. The commissioner dodged the question, unable to come up with an answer, but did mention it was something that would be discussed during CBA negotiations. Ask any player in the league; a majority will tell you that long-term health coverage is at the top of the list of priorities, making this issue arguably the biggest concern for both sides heading into talks.

An increase in the salary cap and to league-minimum salaries will also be top of mind. When the CBA was completed in 2014, it came the year after signing a massive five-year TV deal between the CFL and TSN/RDS, worth a reported $43 million annually – a substantial increase from $15 million per season in the previous agreement. That deal has since been extended through the 2021 season.

The considerable increase in cash resulted in a boost to the CFL’s salary cap, jumping from $4.4 to $5 million, with an increase of $50,000 for each subsequent season ($5.2 million was the cap in 2018). While it’s been debated as to whether there will be a substantial increase this time around — "I have a pretty good sense that the cap isn’t going to move a whole lot, if at all," Ottawa Redblacks GM Marcel Desjardins said in a recent TSN radio interview — one thing players, particularly Americans, will want is a bump in the minimum salary.

The minimum in 2018 was $54,000 — the result of a $1,000 increase per season from the $50,000 agreed upon in 2014. Even with the major boost in cash flow from the TV deal, the minimum salary jump to $50,000 was just a $5,000 raise from what it was the year before the CBA was ratified.

A bigger increase in the minimum salary should help attract better talent from the U.S. — the majority of players inked to lower-income deals — but it might also prevent the CFL from losing gifted players already playing in the league.

JONATHAN HAYWARD / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie addresses the media during the State of the League news conference at Grey Cup week in Edmonton, Friday, November 23, 2018. The Ottawa Redblacks will play the Calgary Stampeders in the 106th Grey Cup.

With new professional football leagues popping up, including the Alliance of American Football, an eight-team league that will begin play in February, and one that has a standard contract of a combined US$250,000 over three seasons, plus bonuses, along with a reboot of the XFL coming in 2020, the risk of losing players seems more real than ever.

THE MAIN PLAYERS

There’s a common misunderstanding that the commissioner has been responsible for negotiating the CBA on behalf of the league. That's not the case.

Negotiations are the primarily the duty of the player relations committee — a group made up of league presidents and owners that have been nominated by the CFL’s board of governors. Senior labour and employment attorney Stephen Shamie has acted as the principal negotiator for the CFL.

According to sources, it was Shamie’s suggestion to abandon off-season bonuses until a new CBA was reached — a tactic to limit players from amassing a war chest to sustain them during a walkout — which was approved by the league. Shamie is a shrewd negotiator with more than a decade of experience working for the CFL, including negotiating the 2014 deal.

As for the commissioner, who is hired by and works for the league, what the role has traditionally been is to persuade the board of governors to act on what he believes might be the best option. Ambrosie, a former CFL player, has talked at length about the need to listen players, but whether that extends to his conversations with the board of governors is still to be determined.

On the CFLPA side, past negotiations have shown that the union’s executive, which included the president and vice-presidents, as well as their own legal council, have been the main players. But if the past three years suggests anything, it’s possible the union could take a completely different approach this year.

The CFLPA has gone through several changes over the last few years, moves that have them better-prepared for the negotiations ahead. They’ve added an executive director in Brian Ramsay, who assumes a role that didn’t exist when the two sides last met to negotiate a CBA.

Players also appear more involved this time around, thanks to efforts by the CFLPA to improve communication between its executive and membership. A monthly newsletter updates players of developments, and there has been a spike in media releases to provide more transparency.

Ramsay noted during Grey Cup week that improved communication between the executive and membership remains one of the top priorities for the CFLPA, and unity is paramount throughout negotiations.

Once a new CBA has been negotiated, it still must get a final stamp of approval from each side before going into effect.

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

twitter: @jeffkhamilton