Mediation collapses in WIndies pay dispute crisis
Mediation efforts between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and
the West Indian Players Association (WIPA) in a pay dispute collapsed at
the brink of resolution, officials said late Tuesday.
Former Commonwealth Secretary General Sir Shridath Ramphal, who had
been appointed to mediate the mess, warned that the feared labor
shutdown might happen as a result of the breakdown in talks.
"It was another bad day for West Indian cricket which, without
fundamental changes, is now likely to deteriorate further," Ramphal said
in a statement from the Guyana-based Caribbean Community (Caricom)
headquarters. The latest dispute erupted in July when 13 of the leading
West Indies players made themselves unavailable for the first Test
against Bangladesh in St. Vincent, citing pay and contract issues.
Ramphal was appointed mediator on July 21 after current Caricom
chairman and Guyana President Bharrat Jagdeo met with top
representatives of both sides.
The mediator said the sides had been close to a deal a day earlier
but talks were derailed after one side tabled a new draft agreement, not
making any more details public on the sticking points. Ramphal invoked
assistance "of various kinds to make implementation of the agreement
feasible. However, all that changed dramatically when one party
introduced an entirely new document and refused to negotiate on any
other."
Jagdeo, in his own statement, said he was "disappointed to learn of
the failure" of WICB and WIPA to reach agreement but added, "I am not
wholly surprised."
"Caricom governments will have to consider what next to do to save
West Indies cricket, and West Indians everywhere, from still further
humiliation," Jagdeo said.
Jagdeo blamed the WICB for failing to disclose to him and the WIPA
that the board had already selected a "B" team for the Champions Trophy
in South Africa and hinted it was the WICB board that demanded a new
document be considered.
"The President (of the board) later apologised for the omission but
the damage had been done. Mediation was weakened from the start," Jagdeo
said.
"Now, it seems that the mediation has been the victim of the same
spirit of board insistence on getting its own way whatever the
consequences for our cricket.
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