Midfielder Jamir Thurman and Calgary Stampiders tried to return to normalcy at McMahon Stadium on Sunday under unusual circumstances.
After the CFL and CFL Players’ Association suspended negotiations for a new collective bargaining on Saturday, the union directed players from seven of the league’s nine teams to take part in the shutdown. However, players from Stampeders and Edmonton Elks reported to their respective camps on Sunday, as they will not be on legal strike until later this month, according to Alberta labor law.
“We don’t have to be here right now,” Thurman said. “The rest of the league is on strike.
“We also voted for a strike, but Alberta’s laws are a little different, so we have to be here, but we are with the PA and everything. We hope we can resolve this and return to football. “
According to Farhan Lalji of TSN, the two Alberta-based CFL teams went on strike before the CFLPA City Hall and after the CFL released its latest proposal. Lalji says veterans from Stampeders and Elks voted 99 percent for the strike.
Alberta’s two teams went on strike before their mayoralties with @CFLPA this weekend. This came after the details of @CFL for their latest proposal were published. Veterans from #Stampeders & #Elks then voted 99% for the strike. @CFLonTSN
– Farhan Lalji (@FarhanLaljiTSN) May 15, 2022
The league’s latest employment agreement, reached in 2019 and amended last year to allow the league to run a 14-match campaign, expired at midnight on Saturday.
The only previous CFL strike was in 1974. The employment contract was resolved before the start of the season that year.
It is unclear when the CFL and CFLPA will resume negotiations.
According to Derek Wigan, a representative of the Calgary player, he and his teammates believe that the deal will be concluded before the Stamps are in a legal position to join the strike in a few days.
“We will go through the process and then on Wednesday we will see what happens,” said the defender, who is entering his seventh season with Stamps. “I really hope so. We trust our negotiating team. I know they will provide us with something good, so it’s just a matter of finishing it by Wednesday.”
Head coach Dave Dickenson is also optimistic that the deal will be made. He said he and his team can prepare Calgary for their first pre-season game on May 28, when the Stampiders will host the BC Lions.
“Everyone has this extra noise right now,” Dickenson said. “We were all looking forward to starting 2022. And I tell the boys (they) will want to be here this year because we’re going to have a great year.
“We’re going to do some things – we’re going to have fun and we’re going to play winning football. And I think our boys got involved because they’re excited to be here.”
Dickenson liked what he saw from his group of returning players and rookies when they went out on the field on Sunday morning.
“The energy is good,” he said. “Positivity is there. The players are dedicated. Coaches are excited to see what we have implemented, whether we can provide this communication with the players and take care of the details.
“Besides, decisions are made in three days on who makes the team and who doesn’t, so we control what we can control.”
Shortly after talks failed on Saturday, CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrose went public with the league’s final proposal to the union. But in a note to its membership, the CFLPA said Sunday that the league’s offer had been rejected more briefly by both Alberta teams.
“After getting Commissioner Ambrose to outline the CFL proposal in a letter to our membership (Saturday), we went on strike in Alberta (Sunday morning).
“Ninety-nine percent of our members voted in favor of abolishing the CFL, which can only be interpreted as 99 percent rejecting the CFL proposal. We reiterate our proposal to the CFL to return to the negotiating table and negotiate in good faith. “
And the CFLPA said that if the CFL decided not to resume negotiations soon, there would be a full-fledged strike to deal with it.
“Our Alberta members will lose their jobs later this week and will strike with other CFLPA members if the CFL does not return to the negotiating table and reach a fair agreement,” the note said.
Despite all the uncertainties about how the work situation will develop, veteran quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell said it was great to return to train with his teammates.
“It feels great in the locker room because the boys are just excited to come back to play football,” said Mitchell, who acknowledged that external factors have complicated things somewhat. “Obviously, players, we want the deal to be done because we want to be here and play football when it comes to June. As fast as that can happen, it would be great.
“It would be great to know that all the other teams are also training. Right now, for our way of thinking, we currently have a minimum of three days of training, so let’s go out there and focus on that. “
Despite his insistence that the training camp should not have started against the background of the labor struggle, Thurman decided to make the most of the bad situation.
“It’s just good to be back here, watching the games and re-studying the system,” said Thurman, who is expected to be one of the leaders in defense again this season after being captain of the team last year. “I’ve always had to step up since I’ve been here.
“I have always known that many people consider me a leader in this defense, so it is the same thing. Nothing has changed. I still expect to perform to a high standard and take the boys with me.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on May 15, 2022
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