By CASEY NEILL
CASEY residents with more than 20 years’ service are set to lose their jobs at Sandown Racecourse.
Sandown and Caulfield garden and grounds maintenance staff last Thursday learned that the Melbourne Racing Club (MRC) would be contracting out their 34 jobs.
The announcement followed six months of enterprise bargaining agreement (EBA) negotiations.
“Some of my mates have been here 40-odd years,” one worker told the News.
Workers’ contracts include a clause banning them from speaking to the media so the News is with-holding his identity.
“All they’d offered was a zero per cent pay rise for three years, which basically equates to a pay cut,” he said.
“We went down last Thursday for another meeting. I thought they’d at least offer us one or two per cent,” he said.
But instead the MRC representative produced voluntary redundancy documents, offering a 10 per cent bonus on top of the EBA-stipulated redundancy payout and entitlements.
“They’re calling them voluntary, but according to them you either take the redundancy or take your leave. After that I don’t know what will happen,” the worker said.
“Four guys have already signed them.
“One of the blokes that signed his was in tears over it.
“I don’t think it’d be the same place to work. I don’t know if I can enjoy it anymore.”
He said the MRC told employees that it had engaged contractors to start work on 1 February and encouraged them to apply for a job with the company.
“The pay will be half the money we’re earning now and the conditions won’t be the same,” he said.
“We fought for years to get these conditions and pay.
“The MRC is crying poor all the time. They’re the richest racing club in Australia.”
The worker said industrial action was likely but the Sandown Australia Day Races would be safe.
“You’ve got to go through all the rigmarole. You have to apply with Fair Work for protected action,” he said.
The Blue Diamond Stakes is on at Caulfield on 28 February.
“They’d be probably a little bit worried about that one, I’d say,” he said.
Australian Workers Union (AWU) Victorian secretary Ben Davis said the decision was “a disproportionate response”.
“There were no whispers. It’s just come completely out of the blue,” he said.
Mr Davis said the union would lodge a dispute with Fair Work and call an emergency meeting of delegates from all metropolitan Melbourne racecourses to “talk through a campaign”.
An MRC spokesman said the decision followed a broader 18-month efficiency review to tackle rising losses in its racing business, which topped $6 million per annum in recent years.
He said MRC was forced to explore other options because the AWU made unreasonable demands.
