Contract dispute: WICB explains its position

Tue, Jul 7, '09

 

WICB PRESS RELEASE:

Following the non-appearance of the West Indies cricket team at the Ticket Launch for ICC World T20 West Indies 2010 last Saturday (July 4) evening in St. Lucia, there has been much speculation about the state of relations between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA).

The WICB would like to state that it has been engaged in ongoing negotiations with WIPA on a number of matters and therefore the action taken by players on Saturday was extremely ill advised and premature given the fact that, as far as the Board is concerned, negotiations are ongoing with a view towards resolving all matters. Further, the action taken by the players in refusing to honour their obligations constitutes a clear breach of the collective bargaining agreement between WICB and WIPA.

• The players who had IPL contracts (5 in number at the time) be given the option to play in the England Tour or to participate in the IPL Tournament, without any sanction/action from the WICB; and
• The players be provided with No Objection Certificates (NOCs) by the WICB in a timely manner without any restrictions in order to participate in the IPL Tournament

After much discussion the WICB proposed that:

• The players who had IPL contracts would be given the option to play either in the IPL Tournament or to represent the West Indies in the England 2009 Tour; and that
• The players would be provided with NOCs by the WICB  in a timely manner; the NOCs to be for the period April 10 to May 01, 2009

Further, the WICB proposed that the players would receive a total amount of US$1.48 million out of the US$2 million received for the England 2009 Tour, which would be first used to “compensate” the IPL players for their early departure from that tournament and the balance of the money being distributed among the other players.

WIPA maintained its demand that the IPL players be given the option to play in the IPL Tournament for the entire season and not just for the period up to May 01. Accordingly, there was no agreement reached on the issue at that time. In fact, at this, Mr. Ramnarine claimed that the WICB was not taking the meeting seriously and he brought a premature end to the discussions.

In April 2009, the WICB sent a formal payment proposal to WIPA regarding the tour of the WI team to England. Although WICB and WIPA discussed the matter, the first written response from WIPA was in June of this year, accepting the proposed US$1.48 million but demanding sponsorship fees in addition at the rate of US$35,000 per day, i.e. an additional amount of US$455,000. WICB indicated that was unacceptable as it would amount to the players receiving a total of US$1, 935,000 out of the US$2 million received for the Tour.

2.  ICC World T20 England 2009:

The WICB made a proposal to pay players 25% of the revenue which it would receive from ICC for participating in this tournament. That amounts to $US750, 000.

WIPA has indicated it would accept that sum but is asking for additional match fees of US$1500 per player per match.  WICB has counter-proposed 20% of its revenue from ICC and the match fees and WIPA has declined this latest offer.

WICB would like to point out that, during ICC WT20 South Africa 2007, WIPA received 25% of the WICB’s revenue from ICC and nothing more.

3. India tour to West Indies 2009:

The WICB is of the view that, for this series, each player is entitled to match fees according to the current WICB structure: US$5000 per Test match; US$2000 per ODI and US$1500 per Twenty20 in addition to US$35,000 per day in sponsorship and is ready to make these payments to the players for these matches.

WIPA has rejected this and adopted a different position – that this tour is outside the ICC Future Tours Programme and so it has the right to negotiate fees outside of and additional to the standard structure.

WICB has suggested as an interim position that the players be paid their match fees and sponsorship fees immediately based on its understanding of what amounts are due, and that the matter be referred to mediation/arbitration in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement to determine whether any additional payments are due. This suggestion has not been accepted by WIPA.

4. Retainer/player contracts 2009:

The WICB signs players on retainer from October 01 each year to September 30 of the following year. In February 2009, WICB issued contracts to a number of players; 16 of whom signed the contracts. This was done after numerous unsuccessful attempts commencing as far back as September, 2008 to engage WIPA in discussions for finalisation of these contracts. In fact, the WICB had written to WIPA again on November 11, 2008 requesting a meeting to discuss the retainer structure for the 2008/2009 period and pointing out that the WICB was losing money as a result of the failure to secure retainer contracts with the players.

It was only as recent as May 2009 that WIPA sent a draft retainer contract with various amendments to WICB, requesting that the Board then agree on the form of retainer contract to be issued and have the contracts come into effect retroactively from October 2008, so that players would be paid from October 2008.

The Board has refused, noting that it has already lost US$3 million from players refusing to sign the contracts at all or players signing late. Nonetheless, WICB has offered to pay players who are yet to sign contracts, effective from the date of signature until September 30, 2009, when new contracts would be negotiated – this has not been accepted by WIPA.

The Board would like to state that the 16 players who signed in February 2009 have been regularly receiving their retainer fees.

5. Injury payments:

The WICB has developed a form for WIPA to use for the submission of claims on behalf of players for injury payments to them. So far, the WICB has only ever received a completed injury claim form for one player – in relation to the West Indies Tour to Abu Dhabi last year, which payment has since been settled.

6. Arbitration:

Since last October, WIPA has taken WICB to arbitration over the Stanford 20/20 for 20 match which took place in November 2008. As far as WICB is aware this matter is progressing and, in fact, lawyers for both parties are due to meet on Monday.

The WICB wishes to conclude by stating that it has always made itself available to meet with WIPA and continues to do so. The Board indicated earlier this year that it intended to professionalise its negotiating strategy and accordingly appointed Mr. Derek Ali, Mr. Robert Morris, Mr. Gerard Pinard and Mr. Walter Scott to constitute the West Indies Cricket Board Negotiating Team, which has been in discussions with WIPA.

The Negotiating Team and its Chairman - the WICB Vice President, Mr. Dave Cameron are prepared to meet with WIPA in Trinidad on July 09, 2009 to once again attempt to resolve the outstanding issues.