Players without international experience were given an increase of 20 per cent and players with international experience were given an increase of 10 per cent, starting with the ongoing Carib Beer 2003 Cricket Series. The increase meant the WICB would be paying out over US $250 000 in players’ fees for the Carib Beer 2003 Cricket.

The WICB has recently learned from Dinanath Ramnarine, President of the West Indies Players Association, that WIPA is considering some form of industrial action because the organisation is not satisfied with these increased fees being paid to players in senior domestic competitions.

Moreover, Ramnarine publicly suggested on Tuesday that this industrial action may be necessary because the WICB had “waited to the last minute” to discuss these issues.

The facts are that in January this year, the WICB asked the WIPA to support their claim of representing all of the players participating in senior domestic competitions with documentation showing their membership of WIPA and consent to be bound by the organisation’s negotiations.

Acting Chief Executive Officer, Roger Brathwaite, outlined this to Ramnarine again in a letter on March 19.

In keeping with standard industrial relations procedure, this documentation was to be a requisite for negotiation with WIPA on fees for the senior domestic competitions, but there has been no response to this request.

It must be noted that to date the WIPA has only been recognised by the WICB as the representative of West Indies players for international competitions.

Nevertheless, the WICB, in good faith, almost a month ago, proposed a meeting between the two parties for Thursday, March 27 (today), in Barbados immediately upon Brathwaite’s return to the Caribbean from South Africa, where he was representing the WICB at ICC meetings and the World Cup.