CFL strike still looms

The Canadian Football League regular season is scheduled to open on June 26. But a bitter labour battle between the league and players union could put that date in jeopardy.

The second day of training camp for the Hamilton Ticats should be about the upcoming season, new roster acquisitions even the new stadium. But that’s not the case these days.

The heat and humidity wasn’t the only thing looming over day two of Tiger-Cats training camp at McMaster University Monday. The possibility of a players strike grows larger after talks between the Canadian Football League and players association broke off last week and no further meetings have been planned.

Money is the major road block for getting a deal done after the CFL signed a five-year television deal with TSN worth $42 million per year. The player’s want the proposed new salary cap to be increased by almost a million dollars — something the league says, can’t happen. A league representative told CHCH that even with the new TV deal, three teams, Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa – are set to lose money this season.

According to Alberta labour laws, the players can’t strike until June 10 at the earliest. If they do, and miss preseason games, they wouldn’t receive their training camp cheques – something many can’t afford. The minimum salary for a player is 45 thousand dollars.

There’s only been one players strike since the CFLPA was created back in 1965. It was in 1974 and a new contract was made during training camp, thus no regular season games were lost — something every player we spoke to hopes happens.