The CFL has released a statement from commissioner Randy Ambrosie celebrating the ratification of a new collective bargaining agreement by the league’s Players’ Association on Thursday night.
The deal still must be ratified by the CFL’s Board of Governors, a formality which the commissioner indicates will occur as soon as possible.
“We are pleased that players have now ratified a new collective bargaining agreement between the CFL and CFLPA. The CFL’s Board of Governors will conduct its ratification vote shortly,” the commissioner wrote. “We look forward to a successful season — including pre-season games this weekend — and a long and productive partnership with our players.”
3DownNation‘s John Hodge first reported that the CFL and the CFLPA had reached a tentative agreement on a new CBA on Thursday afternoon. That deal was almost immediately put up for a vote by the membership in order to comply with the league’s imposed deadline of midnight ET and was passed by the players.
The CFL had indicated that if a new deal was not passed by Thursday, the league would stop feeding and housing players. Rejection of the proposed agreement would have resulted in the cancellation of preseason games and the resumption of strike action.
The two sides had previously struck a tentative agreement last week, but that was voted down by the players on Monday. The two primary reasons it was defeated were the proposed changes to the ratio as well as the lack of a ratification bonus.
Both issues were dealt with to the union’s satisfaction in the new agreement, which saw the players receive a total ratification bonus of $1.225 million. Details of the CFL’s new CBA can be found here.
