The negotiators representing the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) declare "don't blame us" for the failure to settle the cricket dispute. And this is exactly why there is a dispute in the first place.
The approach to the negotiations appears to be that the WICB is the employer and it is always right, and the players are the employees and are always to blame. But this is not about employer and employee; this is about cricket.No one pays to go and see the WICB, nor do sponsors contribute funds because of the WICB. Fans and spectators pay to see cricket and the players are the ones they pay to see. The WICB is basically a group of people who has been given a golden goose (West Indies cricket) which it is quickly and surely killing in its desire to show who is boss. Whatever the composition of the WICB, its task is to essentially oversee the logistical and financial operations of the sport.
The board must understand that the players are the ones who carry the burden of winning matches and must be compensated adequately for their abilities.
Indicative of the board's attitude was the presentation of a new document on the night before the conclusion of the mediation, when the other two parties–West Indies Players Association (Wipa) and the mediator–had reason to believe that the mediation was virtually concluded. No wonder Wipa's Dinanath Ramnarine, believing that all that was left was the paperwork, felt he could take a rest from the long days and nights of negotiating. How could anyone, discussing matters in good faith, expect that a new position would be advanced the night before the process was finalised? Why does that not surprise me, a veteran trade unionist accustomed to bargaining with employers on behalf of employees?
Ramnarine, and moderator Sir Shridath Ramphal, could be forgiven for believing that the WICB was approaching the mediation with an open mind, with a view to settling the issues.
No wonder the board wanted the documents to be kept secret.
No pretext that it was prepared to negotiate on the new document can hold water. How can a question as to "who is Wipa?" arise? If the board does not know who is Wipa, then what is it doing in a mediation process with the association?
The negotiators even had the temerity to severely criticise the mediator, instead of appreciating his effort to help resolve the impasse. With the single-minded focus on financial issues (image rights are big money items), as businessmen and lawyers are inclined to be, they failed to recognise the importance of the other concerns of the players. The board's position in these matters was paramount, not what was fair in the situation, nor what was in the best interest of the players.
The decline in West Indies cricket did not start with Wipa, it started a long time before, but so long as the board continues to operate as if it were the employer of the cricketers, and behave as though it has the right to give what it did not earn, there is little hope of a resolution.
Karan Mahabirsingh
Chase Village