CFL deal doesn’t ease labour pains

The CFL season has been saved — that is, as long as the players vote to ratify a new five-year collective bargaining agreement, reached between the league and its players on Saturday night.

But there are a large number of players across the league who are unhappy with the deal. Ticat player rep Peter Dyakowski has heard from them. “Personally I think the right move is to ratify it, however, I’ve seen a lot of people disagree with that.”

The contract details have not been confirmed by either side, but it is believed to include a $5 million dollar salary cap, which is an increase of $600,000 from last year; ratification bonuses of $7500 dollars for veterans, and $1500 for rookies; and a minimum salary increase of $5,000 to a total of $50,000 per season.

The biggest concession the players association is believed to have given was to abandon the idea of revenue sharing — something union president Scott Flory once referred to as a “focal point” of their proposal.

Dyakowski: “If we look at this deal through the lens of what some teams are making and what our new TV deal is, it doesn’t seem like a fair deal or a just deal. But if you look at it compared to our last 2 CBAs in a vacuum, and you look at the number, we have made huge strides, we have made huge improvements.”

CFLPA player rep Brian Bulcke: “I know a couple other guys, we’ve been texting a lot, especially my old guys back in Calgary, going back and forth. In general it’s a vast majority in support of the PA, so that’s the important part.”

Upset players like Calgary’s Jon Cornish tweeted: “Here’s how it works in the 21st century… unions are dead.”

Saskatchewan’s Ricky Foley said “I am voting yes to accept the deal and not strike, cause we’ve been backed into a corner and I have no confidence in our execs and legal counsel.”

Dyakowski: “I think in our locker room, the majority feeling is that we’re glad to have something done, but we do have guys disagreeing strongly and I’ve heard that in other locker rooms they might not be as united as we are.”

Details of the ratification vote have yet to be finalized, but are expected to take place over the next two or three days.