(TORONTO) Representatives of the CFL and its players’ association resumed negotiations on Saturday, as the collective agreement expired at midnight.
Posted at 4:26 p.m.
The two parties met on Friday evening. A spokesperson confirmed by email on Saturday afternoon that “the two parties are still talking.”
It was expected that more details would be revealed during the day. Training camps are due to start on Sunday with the first preseason game scheduled for May 23.
The current collective agreement was negotiated before the 2019 season and was amended last year to have CFL teams play a 14-game schedule. If there isn’t a new deal in place by midnight Saturday night, six of the league’s nine teams will immediately be in position to legally call strikes.
Players from the Edmonton Elks, Calgary Stampeders and Montreal Alouettes will report to their respective camps on Sunday. Players on those teams will be in a position to legally strike later in May, under provincial labor rules.
Talks resumed Wednesday, six days after the CFL Players’ Association turned down the league’s first offer.
In a memo sent to players, the union said the CFL wants the ratio of Canadian players to American veterans eliminated, in addition to reducing the number of Canadian players on teams. Currently, CFL rosters must include 21 Canadians, including seven in the starting lineup.
The league then amended its offer.
There has been only one strike in CFL history, in 1974. The labor dispute was settled before the start of the season, however.
The 2022 regular schedule is due to start on June 9.