– WICB-WIPA Mediation concludes first phase with little progress
GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – Mediator Sir Shridath Ramphal expressed disappointment yesterday that more agreement had not been reached during the preliminary stages of discussions to resolve the bitter dispute between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) over payment and contracts.
Predictably, no settlement was reached after the first phase of the Mediation Process to resolve the fierce stand-off between the parties but it is apparent that Sir Shridath had expected more progress at this stage.
Declaring in a CMC exclusive interview on July 28 that he was targeting the end of August to reach a settlement, Sir Shridath expressed disappointment yesterday that “more agreement had not been reached during the first phase of discussions” although he felt encouraged that both parties “wished to continue” the Mediation Process in the hope of reaching a comprehensive settlement of their differences.
The process is now set to go beyond August.
After a meeting with CARICOM Chairman Bharat Jagdeo in Guyana on July 21, the WICB and WIPA signed a Mediation Agreement when the Guyana President called for the Mediation Process to ‘be pursued with the utmost expedition’.
Coming out of that Mediation Agreement, Ramphal was appointed Mediator and had his first meeting on July 27 with WIPA chief Dinanath Ramnarine and the experienced Industrial Relations practitioner Gerard Pinard, the WICB’s appointed facilitator.
CARICOM announced that parties completed yesterday, 25 hours of “intense discussion” without reaching “overall agreement” on the issues in dispute between the WIPA and the Board.
Sir Shridath, a former commonwealth secretary-general, emphasized the importance of resolving the issues, stressing that it is “essential to the future of West Indian cricket” and he continued to place value on the mutual assertion in the Georgetown Agreement that while both parties are ‘mindful of the mandates of their respective bodies’, they are also ‘conscious of their responsibilities to the people of the West Indies and the international sport of cricket’.
The second phase of the Mediation Process is now being pursued, with further critical discussions slated for later this month.
Work on the issues will be ongoing and the parties are expected to resume their vital and intense discussion on the stand-off on August 27.
“In the second phase, which begins immediately, the Parties will, in the light of the iscussions, prepare written submissions with a view to exploring a comprehensive settlement based on the principle of partnership,” CARICOM stated yesterday in a press release.
“These submissions will be exchanged no later than 20 August and discussions on them will
resume on 27 August and continue for as long as necessary between then and the end of the first week of September.”
The crippling conflict between the players and the board left a makeshift team representing West Indies in the recent Digicel Home Series against Bangladesh after top flight players boycotted the series, citing pay and contract issues as their main grievances.
Little-rated Bangladesh won both Test and One Day International (ODI) series against the Caribbean side.
The board has already named a largely inexperienced squad – minus most of the top flight players – for the Champions Trophy in South Africa in September even though part of the July 21 Mediation Agreement entailed the estranged players immediately becoming available once again for selection.
