Union Clerks Are Shut Out From Work : Horse racing: Hundreds refuse to sign agreements. Replacements fill windows as Hollywood Park opens.

It was only a piece of paper, but it loomed large as a brick wall for members of the parimutuel clerks guild Wednesday when they showed up for work at Hollywood Park, Santa Anita, Los Alamitos and more than two dozen other betting sites throughout California.

Hundreds of clerks were turned away after refusing to sign a non-union employment agreement. The agreement, which included a 60-day resignation notice, mirrored the contract offer that was overwhelmingly rejected by about 1,000 members of the Service Employees International Union, Local 280, on Tuesday.

As a result, betting windows from Eureka to Del Mar were manned by replacements, many recently trained.

“We had to set back the first race about 15 minutes,” Hollywood Park President Don Robbins said. “But that was only because there was a little trouble getting new people to their stations.”

Complaints of long lines and “shutouts” were reported at some betting sites, but for the most part the action during Hollywood Park’s opening-day program went off without any major incidents. A totalisator-board malfunction at Santa Anita was not related to the new clerks, according to track officials.

“Sure, things were slow with new people,” said Al Karwacki, general manager of Southern California Off-Track Wagering, Inc. “But the satellite supervisors said the patrons were taking it fine.”

Track management declined to say how many union clerks signed the employment agreement and went to work. Union officials maintain it was only a handful. Replacement clerks are getting minimum contract scale of $80 per day.

“It’s a lockout,” Local 280 President Joe Stellino said. “We are not on strike. We are being refused work. We are willing to negotiate for the best interests of the industry.”

The union primarily objects to parts of the proposed contract that would freeze wages for two years and change vesting requirements for health and welfare benefits.

Stellino said that attorneys representing the clerks’ union would be in court by today or Friday to seek an injunction against the federation tracks to prevent the operation of satellite sites with replacement personnel. State Senator Herschel Rosenthal (D-Los Angeles) says the union has a good case.

“If management doesn’t have a contract, they can’t conduct satellite wagering,” said Rosenthal, who was instrumental in shaping the labor language of the satellite betting law. “It’s as simple as that.”

Racetrack management appears to be counting on an opposing opinion handed down in March by the office of State Attorney General Dan Lundgren. In April, the Legislative Counsel of California weighed in with its interpretation of the satellite betting law, siding with the position of Rosenthal and the clerks’ union.

“Neither opinion has the force of law,” said Maura Kealey, the union’s legislative analyst. “It’s up to the horse racing board, a judge and the legislature.”

Rosenthal has called on the California Horse Racing Board to shut down all satellite betting facilities until a labor contract is signed.

“I realize the state gets close to $150 million a year from horse racing,” Rosenthal said. “We want to make sure they continue to operate, but we also want to make sure they continue to follow the law that created them in the first place.

“I don’t want the racing board to get involved in the actual negotiations,” Rosenthal added. “But with the possibility that we might lose income to the state, I would urge the board to at least get the parties talking.”

The racing board has responded to the clerks’ contract dispute by scheduling a meeting for May 11.

“Historically, (the board) has not played a role in matters such as this,” Hollywood Park’s Robbins said. “The labor code is pretty clear on letting management and labor work out their differences without the state getting involved.”

In the meantime, union clerks are welcome to return to work as long as they sign the non-union employment agreement. How long the offer lasts is another question.

“I don’t think the industry has determined at this point how long,” Robbins said. “After what happened today, I realize people will need some time to think about this. It’s a major decision.”