The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) will have to pay regional players in the vicinity of $12 million after losing the latest round of arbitration to the West Indies Players Association (WIPA).
This was revealed yesterday by president of WIPA, Dinanath Ramnarine who held a press briefing at his Edward Street, Port-of-Spain office. He said the WICB was found to be in breach of Article VI of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) as it pertains to both WICB and WIPA deciding on match conditions and the number of matches played by the players.
Senior Counsel Jairam Seenath, who was the arbitrator, ruled that the WICB breached the contract. As a result he awarded WIPA cost and penalty to the tune of $12 million.
Consistent with the dispute resolution mechanism outlined by the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) the parties went to binding arbitration for the 2009/2010 annual schedule of cricket.
The CBA required both parties to discuss and agree to the annual schedule for regional and international matches, the number of games, dates, location/venues, travel and accommodation.
There were some items that no agreement were arrived at but the WICB went ahead and this forced WIPA to seek assistance. According to Ramnarine : “Having gone through the fight for these necessities for the players over several years, particularly since the new CEO of the WICB, Ernest Hilliare, declared that the Agreement between the parties was not workable as far as this WICB was concerned and this WICB would not be bound by the Agreement. And other public statements made pertaining to Article VI has caused WIPA to refer the matter to binding arbitration under Mr. Seenath Jairam, S.C, L.L.M. He was nominated by the WICB and accepted by WIPA.”
S.C.Jairam ruled: “It is my considered view that CBA and MOU in particular the provisions relied upon herein create serious and binding obligations between both parties and they are not to be trifled with since a breach of them may cause serious (and sometimes irreparable) damage. The damages flowing from such a breach is a natural and foreseeable consequence – pacta sunt servanda (contracts are to be kept). In my view the provisions being relied upon by WIPA have been breached by the WICB and the damages therefore are a natural probable and foreseeable consequence.”
The following award was made by the arbitrator:
I – Full and complete account of all the revenue earned by the WICB, including details of all commercial arrangements for the additional T20 match in the home series against South Africa 2010, as well as the Caribbean T20 in July,2010.
II – The sum of US$728,000.00 representing loss of earnings by the players for the Regional 4-day tournament (US$1,300 per match by five matches by 112 players).
III – A sum equivalent to 40 percent of the gross receipts for the additional T20 match against South Africa and the T20 series in July.
IV – WIPA to receive US$100,000.00 for loss of sponsorship opportunity.
V – WIPA will be awarded the sum of US$1,916.00 being the cost of mediation, the sum of US$10,000.00 being nominal damages for loss of income for WIPA T20 and US$114,320.00 for WIPA’s legal fees to date.
VI – WICB to pay 8/10 of the full cost of the arbitration and to refund WIPA 8/10 of all fees paid to the arbitrator for this arbitration award.
VII – WICB must also pay interest on the sums payable at the rate of 12 percent per annum from the date of the award.
Ramnarine said the average cost to be paid to the players is between US$1.5 to US$2M. He added: “I hope that after this costly ruling for the WICB, they agree to negotiate matters with WIPA in the best interest of West Indies cricket because there are many more matters to be dealt with. This is the 10th arbitration that WIPA has won, as compared to WICB zero.”
