CFLPA informs CFL of ‘critical outstanding items’ needed to finalize new CBA

Photo courtesy: CFL

The CFL Players’ Association sent out an internal memo late Monday evening updating the status of negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement. The document was obtained by 3DownNation and can be read in full below.

The correspondence does not identify which “critical outstanding items” the committee is looking to change under a new agreement, though the ratio is generally believed to be the main one.

Under last week’s tentative agreement, each team would be permitted to substitute three “nationalized Americans” in place of Canadian players for up to 49 percent of snaps in a game. The tentative CBA was voted down by the CFLPA’s membership on Monday.

Gentlemen,

There is currently not enough support from the CFLPA membership to ratify the most recent offer from the CFL. The CFLPA has communicated with the league that a new memorandum of understanding (MOU) can be achieved if the league is prepared to resolve the outstanding issues quickly.
 
In reviewing and discussing the offer, all CFLPA members maintained to the bargaining committee that, while many components of the current offer align with the direction that’s been provided by the membership, there remain critical outstanding items that must still be resolved in order to achieve a fair deal. 
 
The entire CFLPA membership has indicated a strong desire to come to a fair agreement as soon as possible so that players can work and fans and partners can get back to celebrating the game. With that, the CFLPA bargaining committee has already informed the CFL which items within the package still need further negotiation in order to satisfy the membership and keep discussions moving forward as efficiently as possible.
 
The CFLPA bargaining committee remains committed to doing everything it can to find a fair resolution on behalf of its membership and come to a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the CFL on a new and fair collective agreement (CBA) as quickly as possible.
 
If you have any further questions, please speak directly to your player reps who have just been briefed in detail.

In solidarity,

Your CFLPA

John Hodge
John Hodge is a Canadian football reporter based in Winnipeg.