|
Union warning over 'raw' stalls handlers
|
The Transport and General Workers Union (T&G) yesterday launched a fierce attack on the overall standard of the stalls handlers likely to be working at British racecourses when the Flat turf season begins this weekend.
Chris Kaufman, the union's national secretary for the food and agriculture sector, has been representing former stalls handlers whose contracts with the company RaceTech were terminated last October. Many have been replaced by new, inexperienced handlers employed on cheaper and more flexible terms.
Yesterday Kaufman revealed that a recent inquiry by the local council at Wolverhampton track, which followed a complaint under the Health & Safety At Work Act, had "failed to give the course a clean bill of health".
He said the investigating inspector had found that not all the stalls handlers employed at Wolverhampton had been given the proper training, while others did not have the necessary accreditation from the Jockey Club. Nobody from the course was available for comment last night.
"We either have the Jockey Club rules with our people properly restored to their jobs," he said, "or we have a race to the bottom and a free-for-all on standards. We can't [just] wait for an avoidable accident."
Ron Cox's Tip of the Day
Kandjar D'Allier 4.25, Chepstow
The official handicapper has made things tough for Kandjar d'Allier over fences, but Alan King's eight-year-old should have a confidence-booster on a return to hurdles off a much lower mark. Third in the Paddy Power Gold Cup Chase off 135, he is 27lbs lower in the ratings here. That reflects his modest hurdles form, but this will be the first time he has run outside a chase for his present trainer.
|
| Related press releases |
Courageous reform
There can be little doubt we are making progress when it comes to improving further education. More young people and adults than ever are gaining good qualifications ever...
|
|
Half of MG Rover workers want to return
Almost a year after the collapse of MG Rover, many former workers are paid less and wish they still worked for the firm, according to a report released today.
Of the nea...
|
|
Making ends meet
Earning some dosh to get through uni might seem unavoidable, but don't lose sight of the reason you are there: to get a degree. Earning shouldn't mean missing vital lectu...
|
|
|
|
The earth man cometh
I am merely the conduit,' says Patrick Holden, director of the Soil Association, when I ask him to sum up his achievement after 10 years in the job. 'The great thinkers, ...
|
|
Battle at the coalface
In his television review Rupert Smith described the NUM miners leader Arthur Scargill as "a ghastly little man who needed to be trodden on" (G2, March 23). I suppose he w...
|
|
Hutton eases small firms' pension fears
The government will not force employers to contribute to workers' pensions without making efforts to minimise the impact on firms, the work and pensions secretary, John H...
|
|
NHS hospital redundancies gather pace
A wave of redundancies across the NHS in England gathered force yesterday when a London teaching hospital announced that nearly 500 posts will be axed in an attempt to di...
|
|
Union warning over 'raw' stalls handlers
The Transport and General Workers Union (T&G) yesterday launched a fierce attack on the overall standard of the stalls handlers likely to be working at British racecourse...
|
|
Minimum wage to rise to £5.35
The minimum wage will rise by 6% in October to £5.35, the government confirmed yesterday, but it cautioned that the days of big, inflation-beating rises may be over...
|
|
|
|
