The staff at Musselburgh racecourse will resist any attempts to have revised working conditions foisted upon them according to the GMB, including taking industrial action.
East Lothian Council (ELC) – which is trying to wrest sole control of the beleaguered track by marginalising the Lothian Racing Syndicate (LRS), with whom they form the Musselburgh Joint Racing Committee (MJRC) – has stated its intention to subsume the track staff within the Council’s workforce.
Councillor Fiona O’Donnell, the current chair of the MJRC, met with racecourse staff last week. The Herald understands that she provided little substance as to why ELC proposes to make the staff council employees, a plan which will be presented to a council meeting next Tuesday.
This move is being opposed by the GMB trade union whose representative, Barry Fletcher, said: “I’ve had a meeting with the staff and was disappointed that the councillor appeared with a solicitor. That’s not the way it should happen. There’s been no consultation yet.”
The staff are currently employed by the MJRC and there is the question of whether ELC has the legal right to tear up current contracts of employment and replace them. The council claim that the staff would transfer under TUPE legislation and their terms and conditions would be protected. Fletcher has written to each councillor asking them to reject the proposal.
This is just the latest chapter in what has been a series of industrial relations failures at Musselburgh.
The staff issue first arose in 2015 when Musselburgh lost its Investors In People (IIP) award after inspectors for IIP Scotland described the committee as “dysfunctional”.
The staff at Musselburgh first issued a grievance in August 2014, which has yet to be dealt with satisfactorily despite a meeting with the then Councillor John Caldwell, the former MJRC chairman, in February 2015. The grievance was dismissed along with their right to an appeal after which the staff joined the GMB. The union managed to get an appeal heard last year but the lack of resolution brought about a second no-confidence vote and a threat of industrial action.
Among the issues at the centre of the dispute is a pay claim which has still to be addressed along with the decision two years ago to withdraw a staff bonus scheme without warning or any explanation.
The change in employment conditions simply fans flames that were already burning. “The staff are absolutely adamant that they do not want to be transferred into East Lothian Council,” Fletcher said.
“I would go as far as to say that if the council carry on with this, the likelihood is that GMB will ballot for industrial action.”
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