horse racing - mobile warfare
WORKERS, OCTOBER 2003 ISSUE
Horse Racing - the 'Sport of Kings' - has seen a fascinating dispute emerge over the use of mobile phones by jockeys. Racing at Sandown Park was recently boycotted and abandoned.
Negotiations between the Jockey Club - the ultimate employers' closed shop - and the Jockeys Association appear to have reached stalemate.
The dispute over where and when a jockey can use a mobile phone, before or in a race meeting, strikes at the integrity and honesty of jockeys. Obviously irked by the employers' suggestion, jockeys have resorted to direct action - hence the Sandown stoppage.
As the matter wings its way to the tribunals and the courts for resolution it is noted that no ballot for industrial action was undertaken.