Clerks Union, Tracks Exchange Threats on Unsigned Contract

Officials of the union that represents all pari-mutuel clerks at California race tracks and satellite betting facilities have threatened to call for a strike if a labor contract, left unsigned since 1988, is not signed in the next month.

The move came after Richard Hughes, director of industrial relations for the Federation of California Racing Assns., said he would ask all tracks to withhold pension payments to the clerks unless the union signed the contract.

A strike, if called, could shut down all satellite wagering facilities and could cripple Santa Anita, Los Alamitos and Bay Meadows, the three tracks currently racing. It would be likely that some clerks, the people who punch tickets and make payouts, would cross a picket line and that the track has a ready pool of non-union clerks to fill the spots. However, the tracks would still have less than 50% of the betting windows covered, and both the tracks and the state would loose significant amounts of money.

There is a meeting scheduled on Oct. 12 to discuss language in the contract that, depending on interpretation, would give certain clerks a $3-a-day raise, as the federation contends, or up to a $9-a-day raise, as the union contends. Even though the contract was ratified in December 1988, it has been left unsigned because of disagreements between the sides.

The situation heated up when Hughes, in a letter dated Sept. 18, said: “If no signed agreement is received by this office on or before that date (Oct. 1), then I will be placed in a position of requesting all operating racing associations to withhold pension payments to the Building Service Employees Pension Trust.”

Joe Stellino, president of the union, responded in a letter dated Sept. 25: “Finally, if this action is taken by you, SEIU Local 280 will have no choice but to ‘STRIKE’ all racing associations and satellite facilities throughout the State of California.”

An employer has 30 days to make a pension payment after the employee works. So, Stellino would not officially be notified of the payment stoppage until the first week of November. Hughes said the money is being put in an escrow account.

A pari-mutuel clerk receives a base pay of $112 a day on-track after health and welfare, pension and vacation deductions. An off-track clerk receives a base pay of $90. The pension deduction is $17 a day. There are about 2,400 union members.

“The day I officially find out they’ve stopped payment, I will notify all our members,” Stellino said. “Even though the contract was ratified, it has not been signed because of these and other problems. We’ve been working in good faith during that time.”

Hughes said there are no problems. “There will be no strike,” he said. “And there will be no threat of strike on our behalf. We won’t push the issue and they won’t push the issue because they know they can’t get their members to recognize (a strike). This is just a little family feud.”

The union contract, signed or unsigned, would expire in 1992.