As politics and Pesidential Exec Orders spill over into the horse world

[Shammy_Davis]

@Texarkana l think my comments about low wages historically across the board nationally is correct. You have a different level of reference than say a worker at low end tracks like Fairmount, Les Bois, Mountaineer, just to name a few. Actually there are studies on this. PB’s previous post seems in the ballpark for the mid-Atlantic but who do you know cares for a family on that? My ribald comments about Dale Romans was more for effect to show that maybe the article should have interviewed some other average income allowance and claiming trainers and not always the graded stakes top of the line trainers who can actually afford to up their wage and benefits scale without scaling down on their social dining.

Just a thought but this maybe a tempest in a teapot as the annual H2B allocation, all industries included, is 66k. You don’t believe for a minute the big stables like Dale’s can’t find good working US citizens to work in his barn, do you?

[Texarkana]

I unfortunately know many who care for families on less than $500/week. The “joys” of working in public education… you see it all.

And I also 100% believe that the Dale Romans, the Todd Pletchers, the Bob Bafferts, etc. all are going to be in for a world of hurt, or at least some MAJOR restructuring, if you limit employment to US Citizens and permanent residents.

Providing livable wages and benefits for all employees is not a problem unique to racing; all small business owners struggle to find that balance. I never had any benefits when I worked as a small animal vet tech for private practices, I made not much over minimum wage, and only had every other weekend off. So many practices operate like this, yet the media frequently reports about the shortage of licensed vet techs in this country. Gee, I wonder why. A friend of mine runs a small business, pays minimum wage, and can’t seem to grasp the concept of why she can’t get/keep decent help. At the same time, she can’t afford to pay more and keep the business afloat with her current model.

Racing’s unique challenge is that every trainer’s “small business” revolves around animals that require 24/7 care and thrive on consistency. The stable’s income is dependent on those horses thriving. Horses do better with the consistency of being handled by the same few people rather than a revolving door of employees. I’m no expert, but I’d imagine that’s how and why we’ve gotten into our current pickle: as I said earlier, we’ve had a constant supply of foreign workers who are willing to work hard without those traditional benefits, so we’ve taken advantage of it and built the industry around it. You can’t cut that supply off suddenly and expect the products of a traditional 9-to-5 society to step up to fill in the vacancies. Even if the industry wants to change or is forced to change, it’s going to take a lot of resources to do so.

[Shammy_Davis]

@Texarkana thanks for your thoughts on this. The realities are that horse racing is weakly propped up with lack of direction, faltering imagination and ingenuity, complimented by lazy self serving leaders who are recognized by the wrap around blinders they wear, a breeding and sales sector with no vision beyond overvalued stud fees and high profits, and sports TV and betting houses that ensure betting profits remain well away from racing that needs desperately to reinvest in itself. Horseracing can’t continue operating on the margins whether it involves employment, racing regulations, equine welfare or aftercare, professional corruption or criminal behavior, and most certainly the continued lack of positive leadership burdened by a disjointed regulatory process and business plan.

[Willesdon]

Just by comparison, UK racing stable staff:

The minimum you can be paid as an 18 to 20 year old is £250.54, aged 21 - 24 it’s £314.62 and over 25 its £338.20 for a basic 40 hour week (consolidated to take account of e.g. travelling to race meetings).

Most staff will be scale 4 (rider/groom/yard person) where the minimum is £348.88.

Assistants such as barn leaders and 2nd/3rd travelling staff earn £356.89 and senior management £378.70.

They will generally have reasonable accommodation because UK race horses are trained all over the country and travel to the tracks only to race so the stables are usually in rural locations. Also, the usual rules about time off and hours worked and paying national insurance etc etc all apply. Nonetheless, the industry still finds it difficult to recruit and retain stable staff and people are concerned about controls on immigration.

[Shammy_Davis]

@Wilesdon - So the minimum is about $450 US? Â week? 40 hrs average? National healthcare, of course.
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[Palm_Beach]

Farm workers, for the most part, are exempt from wage and hour laws. For a while, race track operations did try to apply the ag rules to their operations, but have not been able to get away with that recently.

[Shammy_Davis]

@palmbeach -AG labor laws from state to state are very arbitrary. In VA, â non-producing stable, like a college riding program, often qualifies while horse racing doesn’t, if that really matters anymore.

This conversation is nothing new as this very informative 2007 COTH article shows.

http://www.chronofhorse.com/article/disappearing-worker

[Shammy_Davis]

The Guardian updated an earlier article on this subject. This is worth reading as an immigration attorney places blame for current situation on the industry itself. Dale Romans makes an interesting comment about closing doors if immigration laws tighten. That’s a hoot. There are better odds that Dale will be the first human to walk on Mars.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/feb/23/trump-immigration-crackdown-horse-racing

[poltroon]

@Texarkana

Racing’s unique challenge is that every trainer’s “small business” revolves around animals that require 24/7 care and thrive on consistency.

This is true for hospitals too, but they’ve figured out how to have shifts so that nurses can go home to sleep and transfer to the next nurse. It would probably be better for everyone if the horsemen at the track could figure this out too. I suspect that’s what legal workers need more than they need higher wages, and really this problem is neither unique nor unsolvable.

[Texarkana]

@poltroon Have you seen the financial state of medicine in this country??? It’s to the point where “travel medicine” has become a thing because it’s cheaper to pay to fly someone to Thailand for a week long vacation + medical procedure versus putting them up in a stateside hospital overnight for surgery.

I have worked both on the racetrack and for Vanderbilt Medical Center. Not even remotely the same situation. You have to compare apples to apples.

[Palm_Beach]

@Willesdon

Just by comparison, UK racing stable staff:

The minimum you can be paid as an 18 to 20 year old is £250.54, aged 21 - 24 it’s £314.62 and over 25 its £338.20 for a basic 40 hour week (consolidated to take account of e.g. travelling to race meetings).

Most staff will be scale 4 (rider/groom/yard person) where the minimum is £348.88.

Assistants such as barn leaders and 2nd/3rd travelling staff earn £356.89 and senior management £378.70.

They will generally have reasonable accommodation because UK race horses are trained all over the country and travel to the tracks only to race so the stables are usually in rural locations. Also, the usual rules about time off and hours worked and paying national insurance etc etc all apply. Nonetheless, the industry still finds it difficult to recruit and retain stable staff and people are concerned about controls on immigration.

The cost of living in the UK is way way higher than the US. Most of the former Europeans that I am familiar with are over here because it’s more lucrative to live and work over here. I’m under the impression that farm/stable help over there works like it does over here - people need to come back and do the afternoon/evening feed, and work weekends, so they are only getting 1 day off a week or 2 days off every 2 weeks. And when you live onsite, they are always banging on your door to help unload the hay wagon or whatever.

[Shammy_Davis]

@Texarkana

@poltroon Have you seen the financial state of medicine in this country? . . . Not even remotely the same situation. You have to compare apples to apples.

Absolutely. As was pointed out in the article, horse racing is a unique industry. As usual, the industry leaders, backed by considerable wealth and leverage, failed for decades to anticipate this issue and to seek solutions.

[skydy]

Thank you all for the insight. I appreciate the education.