Fair deal for stable staff: 'Underpaid staff subsidise the sport... it is
not just unacceptable, it's immoral' - Sheikh Mohammed
Published: 29/05/2003 (Features) David Ashforth
OVER the past two days, we have exposed how the stable staff's workload has
expanded while numbers have dropped - and how some of Britain's 6,600 stable
employees earn only the Government's national minimum wage.
Many earn more, but the racing industry, for all its fine words, is allowing
skilled workers to do excessive overtime at the lowest rates permitted. Loyal
staff are being driven from a job they love.
Today, we highlight the support given to staff by Sheikh Mohammed, the most
powerful owner in British racing and, so far, the only one to stand up and
publicly call for a better deal for stable staff.
We examine the efforts of the Stable Lads' Association, set up in the wake of
the 1975 strike, which also produced a forum for negotiations between staff and
trainers, the National Joint Council for Stable Staff.
Today we speak to the SLA's national secretary, Bill Adams, about his work.
We reveal the worries of long-serving head groom Ron Thomas, who is concerned
that there are too few incentives to keep top-class staff in the sport and that
pension provision is inadequate.
Thomas is not a revolutionary, but Andrew Appleby, a horse transporter, is more
radical. Prompted by the complaints he heard from stable staff at racecourses,
Appleby, whose daughter Victoria was once a successful apprentice, organised a
survey of travelling head staff's opinions of racecourse facilities
BRITAIN'S stable staff have an influential supporter in their bid for better pay
and conditions: Sheikh Mohammed.
In a powerful but largely overlooked part of his Gimcrack Dinner speech last
December, Britain's leading owner called for an `action plan' to improve stable
staff pay and conditions.
He said: "It is time racing's leaders spoke up for stable staff; time that
tackling the problem was made a priority; time that decisions made at the BHB
and elsewhere were tested to see how they impact on stable staff. Time, in
short, for a new deal for stable staff."
So far, his plea appears to have fallen on deaf ears, as the first two days of
our investigation have revealed. Sheikh Mohammed made clear in his Gimcrack
speech that he considers this must change.
He said he had been "hugely disappointed" that "hardly anyone,
amidst the acres of newsprint and airtime that have been devoted to discussions
on racing's finances in recent years, has sought to make stable staff a
priority.
"Again and again, we hear from trainers that the biggest problem they
face is recruiting good staff," said the Sheikh. "Why? Because they
are often poorly paid, are offered only a limited career path, and have pension
arrangements that might be said to belong to a bygone age."
Suggesting that the "historic underfunding" of the sport was largely
responsible for what he described as an "appalling situation", the
Sheikh added: "It will shame everyone involved in British racing if the
current opportunity is not seized and significant steps are not taken to put the
situation right as quickly as possible.
"The truth is that underpaid stable staff are subsidising the sport in
exactly the same way as owners are. That is not just unacceptable, it is
immoral."
Sheikh Mohammed pointed out that Godolphin, like some other trainers, are
fortunate enough to be able to pay their employees more than the minimum rates.
"Staff are the key to producing top-class horses," he added.
"Without high-quality staff, it is impossible. That is why I believe we
need an action plan aimed at improving the pay and conditions of stable staff in
Britain."
Sheikh Mohammed was disappointed by the apparent lack of response to his
words - not least from the Stable Lads' Association, whose cause he had so
vocally supported.
Bill Adams, the SLA's national secretary, said afterwards: "I agreed with
much of the speech, but would point out that, although he spoke of stable staff
wages, it must be said that he in his position is a little out of touch with
reality."
Adams, 64, worked as a head groom for John Blundell and Richard Perkins before
agreeing to lead the SLA for one year, in 1986. He has been there ever since
and, in 2000, was awarded the MBE for services to the SLA and to the racing
industry.
With few resources, he has worked hard to deal with individual stable staff's
problems, including those of non-SLA members on issues such as pay, redundancy
and unfair dismissal.
Despite his long service, Adams is an unfamiliar figure to many staff, steering
clear of the media, and preferring to pursue the SLA's business in private. He
believes that the best results are obtained by negotiating in a spirit of
conciliation and compromise with employers. Until two years ago, the SLA
suffered from a serious shortage of members and funds. Since 2001, 0.15 per cent
of
prize-money - equivalent to over pounds 100,000 this year - has been allocated
to the SLA, and all stable staff are now automatically members of the
association, which is about 5,000 strong. It has a national committee and three
regional committees.
Until recently, Adams has worked on a shoestring. "When I took over, in
1986, there was pounds 10 in the kitty," he recalls. "I converted a
room at home into an office, and I paid for the telephone. The most members we
ever had was 1,000."
Now Adams has a new office and an assistant, and is proud of the progress
that has been made.
Referring to the annually negotiated Memorandum of Agreement on pay and
conditions, which guarantees annual pay of only pounds 11,000 for top-grade
staff for a 40-hour week, Adams says: "I'm proud of the agreement. People
have very short memories. When I took over, the rates of pay ended at aged 19.
Whatever you got when you were 19, you stayed on unless you were a head lad or
travelling head lad. It was very unjust. I also initiated the introduction of
NVQs linked to grades of pay, to give young people something to aim at."
Adams would like stable staff to get more but emphasises that recent
increases in minimum rates have been above the rate of inflation, that pay and
conditions compare favourably with other equine sports and that the position of
trainers needs to be considered.
"Wage rates are adequate," says Adams, "because, if the agreement
were scrapped, the situation would be the same as in other equine areas, and
staff would be paid the national minimum wage.
"I'd like more money for staff and, at the end of the year, I will see if
prize-money is up - but if 50 trainers went out of business I wouldn't be happy.
There have to be sensible negotiations."
Adams is opposed to the introduction of Saturday evening racing when there is
Sunday racing and points out that, under the agreement, staff are not obliged to
go racing when it takes them above their agreed hours of work.
"Staff problems haven't been solved," he says. "We had a
strong argument for no Saturday evening racing when there was Sunday racing, and
it shouldn't come in. If it does, at the end of 2004 we will have to see how it
has worked and what the reaction from staff is. We have no agreement to cover
it.
"As a lad, the agreement is to work 40 hours one week and 45 hours the
next. Anything more, and a lad has the right to say, `I'm not going racing.' If
they haven't got the staff to service the product, something has to be done
about it. I hope things will get better."
Adams is not alone in that.
Renewed calls for Adams to step down. Senior grooms put pressure on
stable lads' leader
Published: 12/08/2004 (Sport) DAVID ASHFORTH
A GROUP of senior stable staff led by Ian Willows, Luca Cumani's travelling
head groom, have appealed to Bill Adams to quit as national secretary of the
Stable Lads' Association.
The appeal to Adams is contained in a letter signed by Willows and supported by
four other travelling head grooms - Roy Thorpe (Michael Bell's yard), Alison
West (Sir Mark Prescott), Brian Stephens (Geoff Wragg) and Steve Carroll (Sir
Michael Stoute).
Last December, the same group lodged a complaint about Adams' leadership. After
talks with Adams, they agreed to withdraw their complaint but put the national
secretary on 'probation'.
Since then the matter has taken on extra urgency. The Donoughue report on stable
and stud staff was published in June and urged the need for the SLA to
modernise, 'to establish succession for the current secretary', and to seek
independent advice on the creation of a modern trade union.
Moreover, Andrew Appleby, a horse transporter based in Newmarket, has emerged as
a vocal critic of Adams' leadership. He recently conducted a mobile phone text
poll to gauge support for a new union, with more than 150 staff registering
their support.
The letter from the grooms reads: 'Back in January we agreed to withdraw a
no-confidence vote in you as national secretary of the SLA on the understanding
that you would get out and about and meet your members.
'In view of the Donoughue report and your continued non-appearance, we think
that you should consider retirement or work alongside Mr Appleby, who is
obviously keen to do the job.
'We see no point in having two unions working against each other but we also
loathe instigating a no-confidence motion in yourself. Can we, therefore, please
try to settle this matter as soon as possible in order that the SLA strengthens
and can make a meaningful input into the racing industry for the benefit of its
members?'
Willows said yesterday that he wanted to see the SLA 'strengthened and
improved'.
He added: 'Nobody knows Adams or sees him - to most staff he's just a name in
the newspaper. People say, who is he? When we met before, our parting plea was
that he must get out and meet people, be at the big race meetings. We implored
him, but it hasn't happened.
'Especially with the Donoughue report, we have got to be going forward and
become stronger. Personally, I wouldn't want to go the T&G [Transport &
General Workers' Union] way. I don't want to go through another 1975 strike and
I don't want to see us split.'
Thorpe, speaking in a similar vein, said: 'When we met Adams we gave him six
months to get out and about, because people have never seen him. Nothing
happened, so I'm afraid we have had to take this step.
'We need someone to go round the courses, introduce themselves, discuss
problems. For instance, we have an issue with racecourses' refusal to provide
ties for buckets in stables. It might seem a trivial thing but it is not trivial
for us. If a bucket can't be secured, a horse can knock it over and be without a
drink, perhaps all night. That's the sort of thing the SLA should be pursuing.'
Adams, 66, who has been the SLA's national secretary since 1986, said: 'They are
the first five people to have complained. I have spoken to two of them on my
mobile and will be meeting them next week.'
Asked about the suggestions that he retire, Adams said: 'It is between me and
them. It is nothing to do with the Racing Post. End of story.'Appleby said: 'I
wish to make it clear that I would not be willing to work with Bill Adams. If
the post of national secretary of the SLA became vacant I would be willing to be
temporary secretary, pending election. I would expect to regularise the SLA
membership within a month and organise a general meeting within two to three
months.'
Stable staff urged to back new union to replace SLA
Published: 23/07/2004 (Sport) DAVID ASHFORTH
TEXT messages are at the centre of an initiative to replace the Stable Lads'
Association with a new trade union.
Andrew Appleby, a Newmarket-based horsebox driver, yesterday urged stable staff
to use their mobile phones to text their support.
In a letter to the Racing Post, Appleby wrote: 'I would be grateful if all
stable staff interested in joining an alternative union to the SLA would text
'Union Yes' to 80010, or e-mail me at appleby1352@aol.com, or write to me at 3
St Albans, Newmarket, Suffolk CB8 7AJ. Please do not leave it to everyone else.'
The text messages are being managed by Fastsms, an advanced messaging company.
Appleby, a vocal critic of the SLA and, in particular, of the leadership of Bill
Adams, its national secretary, said: 'Every week is another week when stable
staff are not being properly represented. It is in the best interests of owners,
trainers and the racing industry that good staff are recruited and retained.
'This will not happen unless good remuneration, working conditions and practices
are established. We are all in partnership, together with the BHB, Jockey Club
and other organisations, to produce good racing.
'The purpose of a trade union is to protect and promote the common interests of
its members. It need not be aggressive. The objects of a new union would be the
same as those which the SLA has failed to provide but it would be more
efficient, effective and democratic.'
Appleby has offered to act as temporary secretary of a new union, which could
have branches in various training centres.
The report of the Donoughue Commission on Stable and Stud Staff, published last
month, concluded: 'In order to become a modern trade union, capable of
adequately representing staff, the SLA should reform its structure and
activities.
'The services currently provided are inadequate for the require- ments of its
members, and the SLA needs to modernise.'
The report suggested that the BHB work with the SLA to review its organisation,
establish succession for Adams, and plan the creation of a modern trade union.
It called on the SLA to consider affiliation with the TUC and 'association with
a properly resourced modern trade union', and added that, if the BHB was not
satisfied that a reformed SLA was capable of effectively representing its
members, the funding currently supplied by the BHB should be withdrawn.
A recent return showed that a large part of the increased funding supplied by
the BHB since 2001 had not been spent on improving the SLA's operation, but kept
in the bank.
The SLA has recently indicated that it is considering de-registering as a trade
union, following the Trade Union Certification Office's ruling that only 150
stable staff, out of more than 3,000, can be officially regarded as members,
because of a failure to comply with membership requirements.
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