Noeller Posted May 13, 2014 Report Share Posted May 13, 2014 http://www.sportsnet.ca/football/cfl/cflpa-preparing-for-potential-labour-stoppage/ "Believing they have reached an impasse after four months of negotiations with the Canadian Football League, the CFL Players’ Association is recommending its membership proceed with a strike vote, Sportsnet has learned. The collective bargaining agreement between the league and players expires May 30, on the eve of training camp. And while both sides are scheduled to meet this Thursday and Friday in Toronto, documents obtained by Sportsnet indicate the union is readying itself for a potential labour stoppage. “It is the position of your Negotiating Committee that the position of the CFL in relation to almost all matters and their refusal to have the cap in some way connected to revenue are unreasonable,” reads an internal memo written by CFLPA President Scott Flory and distributed to all CFL players last Friday. “As a result, we are recommending that the Players proceed with a strike vote.” Flory, who did not immediately respond to Sportsnet’s request for comment, has previously stated that the union will not play the 2014 season under terms of the expiring CBA, while both sides negotiate. Sources told Sportsnet that when the two sides broke on May 2, the league, which declined comment for this story, said it would return this week with further input from governors/owners on making progress toward a new economic model. Since talks began in February, the CFLPA has been steadfast in its pursuit of revenue sharing, something that wasn’t included in the 2010 deal but has existed between the league and the CFLPA in the past. The league’s negotiation committee has not budged from its stance of having a fixed cap. At the centre of the debate is a new television deal, reportedly worth $40 million this coming season. The current deal is worth $15.3 million. Last season’s salary cap was $4.4 million and proposals obtained by Sportsnet show the CFL has offered the following when it comes to player compensation: 2014 – $4,500,000.002015 – $4,600,000.002016 – $4,650,000.002017 – $4,700,000.002018 – $4,750,000.002019 – $4,800,000.002020 – $4,900,000.002021 – $5,000,000.00 There are several other points of contention. The CFLPA has proposed a minimum annual player salary of $55,000—with a 10 percent increase annually. The league countered with a $46,000 minimum, which caps at $49,000 in 2021. The union has proposed practice roster players make no less than $1,000 a week (or $18,000 per season). The league has countered with $750/week, but to increase the practice roster size to 12, from seven, and implement “two-way” contracts, making it easier for teams to release players. The union is also pushing for an increase to post-season playoff share, and a hike to the Grey Cup bonus cheque, which the league has refused. One area the two sides have come to terms on is the increase in roster size–from 42 to 44 on game day. The extra two spots would be occupied by a non-import and one designated import. The reserve list would drop from four per game to two. The CFL has proposed an eight-year collective bargaining agreement, double the length of the current deal. The union wants the duration to be “subject to negotiation.” A source tied to the league, speaking on the condition of anonymity, believes the tactic of the league and its governors/owners is patience—the thinking being that the union will eventually give in once the risk of losing pay is a legitimate possibility." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B-F-F-C Posted May 13, 2014 Report Share Posted May 13, 2014 Those salary increases are a slap in the face to the players. bluto, Noeller, Blue-urns and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noeller Posted May 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2014 I agree. I've come to the understanding that I'm firmly behind the players now. I hope they *do* strike if need be... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted May 13, 2014 Report Share Posted May 13, 2014 Posted it on Twitter this morning, the 2014 increase that the owners proposed equates to 3.6% of the new revenue. Absolutely disgusting. Noeller, Blue-urns and Blueandgold 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBieber Posted May 13, 2014 Report Share Posted May 13, 2014 Essentially the CFL wants to stay status quo ($100,000 increases on the cap and $1,000 increases on the minimum salary)... which allows them to make more money. That's an obvious play. They want an 8-year deal to maximize their profits while giving the least to the players. But to throw out this kind of offer is absolutely garbage and completely disrespectful to the PA. sweep the leg 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B-F-F-C Posted May 13, 2014 Report Share Posted May 13, 2014 I think the owners are gauging the resiliency of the players and their ability to live without a game cheque. They know most of these guys don't have deep bank accounts like NFL/NHL and MLB players do. They need their CFL game cheques to feed their families. The owners meanwhile could lose a couple of games without any major negative impact. Unfortunately, I see the owners as the party that can afford to stand firm and wait it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Dee Posted May 13, 2014 Report Share Posted May 13, 2014 Unfortunately the CFLPA is in a league where a tough stance only works when you are actually playing. The Amer/Can. ratio thing is huge and although most Amer. theoretically support standing up for their rights…I just don't see them translating that theory into a strike vote. Everybody emotionally backs the players because we know they absolutely deserve more, but…they are up against the card holders in this one. The league proposal thus far is at the absolute lowest end of the scale and a total insult at this stage of the game. I don't like these stupid negotiation ploys. I'd rather see the respect being mutual. Too bad. Strike? Cancelled games? Absolutely nothing good can come of this, even if the League "wins" Two and a half weeks for the boys to get serious. I don't want to wait any longer for the season. GET ER DONE! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueandgoldguy Posted May 13, 2014 Report Share Posted May 13, 2014 TV revenue increases by more than $2 million per team per season for 5 seasons. New stadiums online with new revenue streams like club seats and suites and the best the league can do is increase the cap by $350,000 by year 5. What a joke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JuranBoldenRules Posted May 13, 2014 Report Share Posted May 13, 2014 Sounds like they are on two extremes. The $55,000 minimum with a yearly 10% increase is as crazy as moving the cap up by $100,000. In three years the league minimum salary would be nearly $75,000, in five years almost $90,000. I can't imagine a lot of higher end players would be too happy about that. Even if they got a share of revenue, say revenues drop or level out, but the minimum salary is $100,000...the only place for teams to claw back salary is on higher paid players. Hard to know who holds clout in the union though, they are all repped by 3 agents too which complicates things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
road griller Posted May 13, 2014 Report Share Posted May 13, 2014 How many higher paid players per team of the 46ish? More lower end so that is where the votes are. At any rate the players need to walk. Go CFLPA Go! Noeller 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrueBlue Posted May 13, 2014 Report Share Posted May 13, 2014 Typical of a high-powered body to play a tight negotiating game at this stage. The CFLPA asks for a mile, and they league gives them an inch. The league wants to have the best of both worlds, but there are more than a few ways to work this out. The league can offer a split of revenue in any percentage, and I am sure the PA will at least listen to it. The fact that there is nothing even on the table that is tied to some sort of residual of revenue shows the stance of the league right now. This is your biggest issue right now amongst the other things. If they can work a tiered structure for salary increases, maybe the PA will listen to a longer term contract this time around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JuranBoldenRules Posted May 13, 2014 Report Share Posted May 13, 2014 How many higher paid players per team of the 46ish? More lower end so that is where the votes are. At any rate the players need to walk. Go CFLPA Go! But, most of the guys fans care about are in the upper class of CFL players. For example, if a couple import QB's break from the PA, that could have more influence than 150 other imports striking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBieber Posted May 13, 2014 Report Share Posted May 13, 2014 Sounds like they are on two extremes. The $55,000 minimum with a yearly 10% increase is as crazy as moving the cap up by $100,000. In three years the league minimum salary would be nearly $75,000, in five years almost $90,000. I can't imagine a lot of higher end players would be too happy about that. Even if they got a share of revenue, say revenues drop or level out, but the minimum salary is $100,000...the only place for teams to claw back salary is on higher paid players. Hard to know who holds clout in the union though, they are all repped by 3 agents too which complicates things. I've thought throughout the process that moving up the minimum to $50,000 would be a good start. Increase it by 7.5% every year. That is around $65,000 after five years. I think that is fair. Cap should be $4,600,000 and rise by $250,000 each year. On a five year deal: Cap/Minimum 2014: $4,600,000 / $50,000 2015: $4,850,000 / $53,750 2016: $5,100,000 / $57,500 2017: $5,350,000 / $61,250 2018: $5,600,000 / $65,000 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
17to85 Posted May 13, 2014 Report Share Posted May 13, 2014 The league wants to have the best of both worlds, The league is not that many years removed from being on life support. What happens if Wettenhall decides he doesn't want to lose money on the Als anymore or god forbid croaks? What happens if Braley gets tired of sinking money into teams or again god forbid dies? Same deal with Young in Hamilton, what if he gets tired of losing money? The league has only just got back on stable ground they are right to be cautious about their finances. Players deserve a bump, but I think going after having it tied to revenues is a bad move. Not the hill to die on at this point. Jaxon and Jethro 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Unknown Poster Posted May 13, 2014 Report Share Posted May 13, 2014 Two thoughts: - CFL players striking? lol - The salary cap increase offered by the league is laughable Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noeller Posted May 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2014 Its like DB97 said recently: If you don't stand up and fight now, you'll never win another fight ever again. Go PA!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goalie Posted May 13, 2014 Report Share Posted May 13, 2014 If the cfl strikes, the cfl is done. It's that simple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted May 13, 2014 Report Share Posted May 13, 2014 If the cfl strikes, the cfl is done. It's that simple. It's really not that simple. Noeller 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweep the leg Posted May 13, 2014 Report Share Posted May 13, 2014 What the league is offering is ridiculous, but the players certainly don't deserve 50% of the increased revenue. They're also getting a little crazy with their demands on min. salary. I agree with JBR on that issue. Like 17to85 said, the league needs stability. The league has been so chaotic in it's history that I can't blame the owners for finally wanting to make some actual money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Unknown Poster Posted May 13, 2014 Report Share Posted May 13, 2014 If you strike, you never make that money back. Although in this case, a one game strike might get that money back since the offer was so poor. But ultimately, players need to play and make money and the CFL needs to operate and make money so they will come to an agreement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iso_55 Posted May 13, 2014 Report Share Posted May 13, 2014 Its like DB97 said recently: If you don't stand up and fight now, you'll never win another fight ever again. Go PA!! I agree. Don't want to see a strike but what are the players supposed to do? $750 a week to be on the practice roster?? guys come out of college & can work & start a career for way more than that. Why would any kid, especially a Canadian want to do that? The CFL is such a Mom & Pop organization. The league is a joke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DR. CFL Posted May 13, 2014 Report Share Posted May 13, 2014 Pretty funny that the upper level players and the demand exceeds the supply NIPs always become the hard liners because they have their own money in the bank. The bulk of the players are now broke awaiting their first camp cheques. The league knows it and a strike saves them locking the players out and potential legal labour hassles in a coupler provinces. Welcome to the real world of labour negotiations fellas. Like it or not the league has the upper hand here. Cry if you want to. Jethro 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBURGESS Posted May 13, 2014 Report Share Posted May 13, 2014 Standard salary negotiation stuff. The league wants the players to work more hours for as little as possible. The players want to just play the games and make as much money as possible. The league isn't as strong as the players make it out to be. They want a share of the profits, but no part of any of the deficits. The league isn't as weak as the owners make it out to be. They want to make as much money as possible to pay them back for all the losses they've had to eat in the past. I firmly believe that a deal will get done without a strike and both sides will say they won. Tracker 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jpan85 Posted May 13, 2014 Report Share Posted May 13, 2014 If the players strike there are thousands of American players that would have no problem coming up here and crossing the picket lines. Probably would have to go with out a limit on imports though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrueBlue Posted May 13, 2014 Report Share Posted May 13, 2014 Sounds like they are on two extremes. The $55,000 minimum with a yearly 10% increase is as crazy as moving the cap up by $100,000. In three years the league minimum salary would be nearly $75,000, in five years almost $90,000. I can't imagine a lot of higher end players would be too happy about that. Even if they got a share of revenue, say revenues drop or level out, but the minimum salary is $100,000...the only place for teams to claw back salary is on higher paid players. Hard to know who holds clout in the union though, they are all repped by 3 agents too which complicates things. I've thought throughout the process that moving up the minimum to $50,000 would be a good start. Increase it by 7.5% every year. That is around $65,000 after five years. I think that is fair. Cap should be $4,600,000 and rise by $250,000 each year. On a five year deal: Cap/Minimum 2014: $4,600,000 / $50,000 2015: $4,850,000 / $53,750 2016: $5,100,000 / $57,500 2017: $5,350,000 / $61,250 2018: $5,600,000 / $65,000 Is league minimum salary that big of an issue though? How many players on a team would you say make the minimum on average? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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