I'm opening an topic to discuss the expiration of the current CFL/CFLPA CBA, the ongoing negotiations and, hopefully, the quick announcement of a new CBA. 

Here's a link to the components of the existing CBA: CFL/CFLPA Collective Bargaining Agreement, which expires the day before the 2019 training camp starts.. 

 

What does the CFL like about the current agreement? What don't they like?

What does the CFLPA like about the current agreement? What don't they like? 

What would you like or dislike about the current agreement? 

 

Presumably the new agreement will include language around the expansion team in Halifax and potential games in Mexico and Mexican players. 

Also, I expect to see an increase to the cap but how much? 

10 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

I've never seen a league so poorly run. Everything is in chaos. 

Uh, the 90s called - reminding you of that dreadful US expansion, a mountain of legal issues, and the NFL loaning a few million so the league could survive.

16 hours ago, Mark H. said:

I don’t understand why any new clauses they negotiate couldn’t be retroactive. Then everyone could proceed with FA business as usual. 

Because with cap restrictions who in the world could you negotiate anything that might have impact on the 2018 budget, which is, for the most part, in the books already.

14 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

 

"Going to start formal discussions next month". Why didn't they start this month? 

Because there's this little thing called family life and Christmas.  Lots of people sort of want to travel home for December.  Not really hard to figure that sort of stuff out, and again, if you had read the article you'd have known that talks have been ongoing for a while now.  I'm expecting that each side pretty much knows where the starting points are already.

2 hours ago, WBBFanWest said:

Because with cap restrictions who in the world could you negotiate anything that might have impact on the 2018 budget, which is, for the most part, in the books already.

The current agreement does not expire until training camp 2019.  So, there's no way the new agreement could have an impact on 2018.

Note: the previous collective agreement was ratified on June 13, 2014, several weeks after the previous one had expired. 

3 hours ago, WBBFanWest said:

Because there's this little thing called family life and Christmas.  Lots of people sort of want to travel home for December.  Not really hard to figure that sort of stuff out, and again, if you had read the article you'd have known that talks have been ongoing for a while now.  I'm expecting that each side pretty much knows where the starting points are already.

So, at your job you don't work from the beginning of December to Xmas because of family time? You'll probably get the standard time off for Xmas & Boxing Day as well as NYD like everybody else unless you booked holidays. Otherwise, you're at work with your boss expecting you to do your job in December.   I appreciate your comments & what you said WBBFanWest.  I did read the article. However, the CFL put itself in this situation with contracts expiring on nearly 50% or more of the players in less than 2 months. It is what it is so they need to fix it fast. During the last CBA negotiations the issue of free agents wasn't an issue as players signed new deals while negotiations continued so I don't know what changed to create the contractual mess they have now with the players.  I also recall the last CBA negotiations went right into May & was very rancorous which doesn't bode well for these negotiations. The league refusing to pay bonuses until a new CBA is reached hasn't helped as it's angered the CFLPA.

Edited December 28, 20187 yr by SpeedFlex27

2 hours ago, Mark H. said:

The current agreement does not expire until training camp 2019.  So, there's no way the new agreement could have an impact on 2018.

Note: the previous collective agreement was ratified on June 13, 2014, several weeks after the previous one had expired. 

So what exactly needs to be made retroactive then?

1 hour ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

So, at your job you don't work from the beginning of December to Xmas because of family time? You'll probably get the standard time off for Xmas & Boxing Day as well as NYD like everybody else unless you booked holidays. Otherwise, you're at work with your boss expecting you to do your job in December.   I appreciate your comments & what you said WBBFanWest.  I did read the article. However, the CFL put itself in this situation with contracts expiring on nearly 50% or more of the players in less than 2 months. It is what it is so they need to fix it fast. During the last CBA negotiations the issue of free agents wasn't an issue as players signed new deals while negotiations continued so I don't know what changed to create the contractual mess they have now with the players.  I also recall the last CBA negotiations went right into May & was very rancorous which doesn't bode well for these negotiations. The league refusing to pay bonuses until a new CBA is reached hasn't helped as it's angered the CFLPA.

Being a member of the CFLPA is not a full time job.  Playing football is.  Football season is over.  Did you really expect that through December all these people would be hunkered down on some hotel in Toronto?  I'm pretty sure that talks have been going on all this time.  If you've ever done contract negotiations there are often the "formal" negotiations and then there are the "informal" negotiations.  The informal negotiations will set the stage for the formal ones, so I wouldn't get my panties all in a bunch.   Just because you don't know what's going on doesn't mean they don't.  Maybe give Ambrosie a call and see if you can be cc'ed into the discussions.

59 minutes ago, WBBFanWest said:

So what exactly needs to be made retroactive then?

Anyone who signs a one or two year contract right now. The bulk of that contract will be for the time period after the current CBA expires. They should still be able to get the benefits of the new CBA. 

The only deals being done right now are by clubs who are confident they have 2018 Cap space remaining.  The league deliberately held off on allowing off season bonuses to put the squeeze on players. The league has no real interest of need to rush into a new CBA , similar to the late date on the last CBA. The difference now is the players have now have no off season  money to tide them over.  

2 hours ago, WBBFanWest said:

Being a member of the CFLPA is not a full time job.  Playing football is.  Football season is over.  Did you really expect that through December all these people would be hunkered down on some hotel in Toronto?  I'm pretty sure that talks have been going on all this time.  If you've ever done contract negotiations there are often the "formal" negotiations and then there are the "informal" negotiations.  The informal negotiations will set the stage for the formal ones, so I wouldn't get my panties all in a bunch.   Just because you don't know what's going on doesn't mean they don't.  Maybe give Ambrosie a call and see if you can be cc'ed into the discussions.

I'm sure he'd look forward to me calling him.

1 hour ago, DR. CFL said:

The only deals being done right now are by clubs who are confident they have 2018 Cap space remaining.  The league deliberately held off on allowing off season bonuses to put the squeeze on players. The league has no real interest of need to rush into a new CBA , similar to the late date on the last CBA. The difference now is the players have now have no off season  money to tide them over.  

Every team should have tons of cap room with half to three quarters of every roster open. The question is, how many impact FA's will teams lose when other teams start chasing them? 

Edited December 29, 20187 yr by SpeedFlex27

33 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Every team should have tons of cap room with half to three quarters of every roster open. The question is, how many impact FA's will teams lose when other teams start chasing them? 

Smart teams like Calgary set a budget for players by position. They don’t over pay for FA and Huff’s son does a good job of finding talent hence the stability of that franchise.

1 hour ago, Mark H. said:

Anyone who signs a one or two year contract right now. The bulk of that contract will be for the time period after the current CBA expires. They should still be able to get the benefits of the new CBA. 

I believe that if you are talking about something that will happen in the future, the word you want is proactive.

34 minutes ago, DR. CFL said:

Smart teams like Calgary set a budget for players by position. They don’t over pay for FA and Huff’s son does a good job of finding talent hence the stability of that franchise.

Maybe in normal times but this isn't a normal off season. 

11 hours ago, WBBFanWest said:

I believe that if you are talking about something that will happen in the future, the word you want is proactive.

In collective bargaining language, the word is retroactive. It’s like getting back pay. Some clauses are retroactive to the day the previous agreement expired, others are effective date of signing, while still others are effective on a date agreed to by all parties. 

On ‎2018‎-‎12‎-‎28 at 7:45 AM, blue_gold_84 said:

Uh, the 90s called - reminding you of that dreadful US expansion, a mountain of legal issues, and the NFL loaning a few million so the league could survive.

At least the players could sign legal & binding contracts. Unlike today.