Media Advisory - Racetrack workers fight unfair practices
TORONTO, Jan. 2 /CNW/ - The Canadian Auto Workers Local 2007 has launched
The most recent example of this occurred on December 1, when a betting clerk at the Greenwood Teletheatre in Toronto mistakenly issued an incorrect ticket to a patron. The patron had asked to place a $500 bet on a number 5 horse to win, but the final ticket read number 6.
The race started before the betting clerk was able to cancel the ticket and correct the error. The patron refused to accept the incorrect ticket and refused to pay the $500 that was owed. As is common practice with Woodbine Entertainment Group it then becomes the betting clerk's responsibility to pay the outstanding $500 fee.
As it turned out, the incorrect ticket became a winning ticket paying out $7,825. Rather than allow the betting clerk to collect the winnings an employer representative confiscated the winning ticket and subsequently reimbursed the $500 fee. Woodbine refuses to turn over the full proceeds of the ticket, which was in the teller's possession.
Based on past practice at the racetrack, the union believes that had the ticket lost, the betting clerk would not have been reimbursed the $500.
Hemi Mitic, Assistant to the CAW National President, considers this a blatantly unfair practice for betting clerks.
"Our members are being told to foot the bill for incorrect tickets, regardless if they are responsible for the error or not, and then told that they can't share in the rewards," Mitic said. "This is a double-standard that our union simply won't stand for."
