Logo snub tiff

ANOTHER dispute seems to be brewing between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the West Indies Players Association (WIPA).The WICB is accusing WIPA of breaching the collective bargaining agreement between the two bodies.It stems from some players covering the manufacturer’s logo on their shirts during the inaugural Caribbean Twenty20 last month.The WICB used its Facebook page to announce yesterday that it had served notice to WIPA that it had invoked the dispute resolution procedure set out in the collective bargaining agreement.The first step of this procedure requires both parties to engage in good faith negotiations within 21 days in an effort to find a resolution.“The WICB noticed that some teams and players had covered the logos and wrote to the relevant territorial boards seeking explanations,” the WICB told readers on Facebook.Under instructions“The territorial boards indicated that the players were acting under instructions from WIPA. The WICB wrote WIPA seeking clarification as to why the players were instructed to cover the manufacturer’s logo. WIPA has yet failed to respond to the WICB. The WICB was anxious to understand what the issue(s) was/were so that it could be settled.”According to the WICB, the collective bargaining agreement spells out, in detail, what the procedure is in the event of a dispute and this procedure “was not” followed by WIPA. The regional governing body also claimed that players, by agreeing to play for their respective teams, agreed to wear the team kits, which included the BAS logo from the manufacturers.Eight teams contested the Caribbean Twenty20 which was played in Barbados and Trinidad from July 22 to 31.At least three teams had their manufacturers’ logo on the shirt sleeves covered by tape for the latter half of the tournament, and the WICB sent correspondence to WIPA on July 26 and July 28 seeking an explanation on the matter.When contacted yesterday, WIPA president and chief executive officer Dinanath Ramnarine acknowledged they had received correspondence from the WICB.“We are in receipt of a letter of notice of dispute. We are trying to finalise suitable dates with our legal team, which is busy trying to deal with the interim ex parte injunction from the Guyana Cricket Board. We have no issue and will respond accordingly,” Ramnarine told WEEKENDSPORT.DissatisfactionThe WIPA boss also disclosed that the two parties met two days ahead of the Caribbean Twenty20 final on July 29 at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Port-of-Spain, where WIPA voiced other concerns with the WICB.“We raised our dissatisfaction that once again the players were playing without any agreement between the WICB and WIPA. Had an agreement been in place, the players’ obligations in relation to sponsors and other parties would have been well known to all. Therefore, there may not have been an issue. “The WICB, in previous correspondence on the Caribbean Twenty20, indicated to us there were no sponsors,” Ramnarine added.“We look forward to dealing with this matter in good faith consistent with the procedure laid out by the collective bargaining agreement.“We will be available and ready to deal with it. Now that the WICB has established this forum, we too will keep the public informed of the many breaches by the WICB dating back to the signing of the New York agreement last October. “This notice only demonstrates the board’s lack of understanding of these and other agreements,” he said.