Unable to come to an agreement for a new collective agreement, the players of the Canadian Football League (CFL), including those of the Alouettes, went on strike on Saturday evening. This had the effect of upsetting the opening of training camps for the majority of teams yesterday.
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It is not a surprise. Negotiations hit a wall on Saturday as the collective agreement expired. Discussions between the two parties, which lasted nearly 16 hours, did not lead to any significant progress.
As of this writing, negotiations have broken down. No meeting between the players’ union and the owners’ committee is scheduled for today or tomorrow.
All teams except the Edmonton Elks and Calgary Stampeders due to Alberta labor laws took part in the walkout yesterday. A first since 1974.
During previous negotiations, the players’ union and the owners had always found common ground before the first training sessions of the season. This time around, the players decided to keep the hard line at the negotiating table.
They are ready to stand up especially since they have been housed and fed by their teams since their arrival at the training camp sites.
An iron arm
The players’ strike is a thunderbolt for the CFL, which has always been a financially fragile professional circuit. The pandemic has done nothing to fix things.
To show good faith, the players have decided to extend the old collective agreement for one season in 2021. The two parties had agreed to negotiate a renewal before the 2022 campaign.
Compared to other negotiations, the players have shown that they are not ready to accept anything as a football player. Several of them took advantage of the pandemic to find a job to make ends meet. They are less dependent on their income from the CFL than in the past.
In the past, the management party negotiated the collective agreement with the same recipe. She began negotiations only a few weeks before the start of the camps to put pressure on the players. Backed up once morest the wall, the latter often accepted poor working conditions. It didn’t happen over the weekend.
We might see a change in the balance of power in the next few hours. One thing is certain: a long labor dispute would sign the death warrant of this circuit. Both parties know this very well.
In the field, but…
Meanwhile, several Alouettes players walked on the Diablos field at Cégep de Trois-Rivières yesterday. They took the opportunity to loosen their muscles with some light exercises.
On the other hand, they decided not to comment on the negotiations between the players and the owners. They weren’t wearing Alouettes practice jerseys. There were no coaches or staff with them on the pitch.
In the evening, the Alouettes sent out a press release indicating that training camp activities were suspended until further notice.
“We are disappointed with the turn of events, but we cannot comment on the negotiations, mentioned the president of the Alouettes, Mario Cecchini. All we want is a quick settlement between the two parties.”
-With the collaboration of QMI Agency
