Grooms reach pay agreement with United Trainers
THE Grooms Association of Jamaica (GAJ) has reached an agreement with the United Racehorse Trainers’ Association (URTA) on a new pay package. Confirmation of the new pay arrangements for grooms came from the president of the GAJ, Fabian White, in an interview with the Complete Racing Guide.
The agreement which started on October 31, sees grooms receiving a 12 per cent increase in the first year and an eight per cent rise in the second year. Grooms presently receive $2, 750 to look after one horse, with most grooms caring for a minimum of two horses. They also receive five
per cent of the stakes earned by
their charges from position one to six. They will now in the first year with the 12 per cent increase receive $3,100 per horse.
“When the offer first came from the URTA we couldn’t just up and agree. I had to take the offer to the grooms for them to say yes or no. That was done and with the intervention of other stakeholders in racing we came to the decision to take the two stage increase, 12 per cent in the first year and eight per cent in the second year,” president White told the Complete Racing Guide.
White stated that while the amounts agreed on fell a bit short of what the grooms were originally asking, it was accepted in order not to disrupt the racing product. He added that the spirit of the negotiations with the members of the URTA, while spirited, was never fractious and was done in a very open and dignified manner.
“I was happy with how the negotiations went. We made our points, they made their points and eventually we came to a decision for the good of all,” White said.