Important Reminder

Any Seniority List employee who may be removed from the Seniority List, because of a lack of hours this year, pursuant to Article 14 (d) of the Collective agreement (page 10) are reminded that;

If you are 55 years of age or older you have the option of taking early retirement and thus be provided with a continuation of your benefits (partially) until you are 65 years of age.
Please refer to Article 22 - 5 of the Collective agreement (page 24).

UPDATE ON THE UPCOMING SHIFT STRUCTURES

The Union recently had a step two grievance meeting with WEG regarding the tellerless teletheatre and the upcoming shift structures in 2011. We are waiting for their response and we will bring this issue to arbitration if necessary.
There are many questions on this new structure and following are a few of the questions we put forward to WEG along with their responses. (Responses in italics):

1) Where will the customers at Woodbine and the Racebook get their vouchers when there are no tellers?

Customers will be able to obtain a voucher from the self-serve machine.

2) How will customers be able to cancel their tickets because of late scratches, etc?

If a horse is scratched from a race, a customer who has placed a bet on such a scratched horse will be able to put their ticket into the self-serve and a voucher will be issued. Otherwise, for tickets that a customer would like to cancel for any reason other than a scratched horse: a) if the customer is not an HPI account holder, then the customer must cancel the bet within 40 seconds of creating the bet at the self-serve terminal, or; b) if the customer is an HPI account holder, then it can be canceled up to post time.

3) What about Monday live at Woodbine?

Live racing will be staffed with mutuel tellers.

4) What will happen with Cheque Cashing and U.S. Exchange when tellers are not scheduled?

Cheque Cashing and U.S. Exchange will not be available when tellers are not scheduled. These services will only be offered during live racing.

5) Who will post the changes when tellers are not scheduled?

Changes will not be posted when tellers are not scheduled. Customers can obtain changes as they are scrolled on the television.

Please let other mutuel employees know that we will be posting updates on this issue on this website. If any employees who are not subscribers to our union website and would like to, they can send their emails to myself at robertciprick@gmail.com and I will see that they get listed.

Since the proposed changes to our shifts are going to cause some employees to have no or very little work they might be eligible for Employment Insurance. They can check out the following website. http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/ei/types/regular.shtml#eligible

There they will learn if they become eligible to collect EI. For example one of the qualifications is “have been without work and without pay for at least seven consecutive days in the last 52 weeks;”

Bob Ciprick
President
CAW Local 2007

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In Charge Doing Host Duties at Mohawk

Arbitrator Kathleen O'Neil agreed with the Union that the In Charge doing the Hostess duties at Mohawk was an extra duty. She gave the parties an opportunity to negotiate a rate. WEG offerred zero. A hearing is scheduled for February 23, 2011 with Miss O'Neil to set a rate.
A copy of the arbitrator's award is available here:

To All Mutuel Tellers

As you may know by now there are major changes to our scheduling in the new year. Tellers are being greatly reduced at Woodbine, Mohawk’s Racebook, and Greenwood. Along with Woodbine’s intentions to open up new teletheatres that are tellerless this will create less and less work for us.

These certainly are major challenges for us all. Recently I have sent emails to our MPPs to ask for accountability of the slot-profits that are being given to the Ontario track operators. These profits are to rebuild the Horse racing industry in Ontario and to provide good paying jobs with benefits to the communities that host these slot casinos. As far as we can see they are not living up to this obligation and are only reducing the numbers of good paying jobs at Ontario racetracks.

I urge you all to contact your local MPPs, and your local city politicians. Ask them why good paying jobs are being reduced at the tracks that receive ‘slot profits’. The original slot agreements call for ensuring there is an economic benefit to Ontario. Providing good paying jobs with benefits is an economic benefit. Together with a concerted effort we can get the attention of the powers to be to get things done.

Following is the email that was sent:

Good Day to all.

I would like to offer the question: What benchmarks are in place to justify the large amounts of slot profits that are directed to the Ontario Horse Racing Industry that show the accountability for this money to ensure they are benefiting the Ontario taxpayer as intended?

Or are the taxpayers just going to go on bailing out a failing industry that do not seem to be able to manage the millions they receive annually responsibly.

The Ontario Lottery Corporation is a Government Corporation that should be accountable for all of their profits which belong to the taxpayers of Ontario.

“Through the Slots At Racetracks Program, the government partners and invests in horseracing. As a “customer” of horseracing, the government receives the benefits of extensive economic inputs through employment, taxes and other direct and indirect means”. ONTARIO HORSE RACING– Back On Track – August 2010.

Through the recent years there have been studies and reports done to address the decline in the Ontario Horse Racing Industry. The players that are affected by the decline of the industry are: the breeders, the owners, the racetrack operators, the employees that are employed in all sectors of the industry and the Government through less tax revenues. The industry has continually lobbied the government for lower taxes, lower take outs and now to share in the slot profits.

My question is: how are the slot profits that are being shared with the Ontario horse racing industry be audited to ensure they are providing the intended “extensive economic inputs through employment, taxes and other direct and indirect means?”

Currently, since the beginning of this program, subsidizes have amounted to billions of dollars to the hosting racetracks to turn around the horse racing industry in Ontario.

What are the benchmarks to justify this extravagant bailout?

Currently, track operators are requesting less dates to run the races.

Currently, track operators are reducing good paying jobs with benefits and replacing a few of them with precarious type jobs. This does not create a lasting benefit to the government or the industry.

Currently, track operators are simulcasting more races from foreign countries than Ontario tracks. Thereby, diverting monies away from the Ontario industry.

Currently, track operators are bringing in new betting technologies which has a double negative effect on their slot mandate. 1) they eliminate good paying jobs, and 2) there also has been a decline of ‘live attendance’ at the tracks which is one of the provisions of their mandate for receiving the slot profits.

Currently, another requirement of these ‘monies’ is to increase the purse structures to encourage new owners. Currently, the new levels of purses have profited the rich successful owners such as Frank Stronach and Eugene Melnyk. This does not benefit the Ontario horse breeders and the Ontario racing industry as both these owners live elsewhere.

Has the increase benefited the Ontario Breeders? Are there benchmarks to determine this?

Currently, if the track operators were not receiving these slot profits the majority of the tracks would be out of business since they do not have a business model that shows they can turn a profit.

Are the taxpayers to continue with this bailout? Or will the Government force these operators to enforce proper use of these profits by improving the industry and supply and maintain good paying jobs with benefits as promised?

Sincerely

Robert Ciprick

Ontario taxpayer

President CAW Local 2007