Strike action to cost Victorian Harness Racing industry millions

Harness racing in Victoria is expected to come to a standstill indefinitely from tomorrow (Wednesday) when the state’s 13 official stewards take lawful strike action, the AWU said today.

A meeting in Kilmore tomorrow afternoon will be the first crippled by the strike action, with races at Moonee Valley (Friday night), Cranbourne (Wednesday night), Cobram (Thursday), Ballarat (Thursday night) and Geelong (Saturday) also hit.

AWU Victoria Secretary,, Cesar Melhem, said Harness Racing Victoria had refused all efforts at resolving its dispute with the stewards at a conciliation hearing in the Industrial Relations Commission this morning.

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"We reached an in-principle agreement with HRV over wages and conditions for the stewards back in February, but HRV reneged on that deal," Mr Melhem said.

"We estimate it would cost HRV about $12,000 to fulfil its agreement with its stewards.

"Now, by failing to resolve this dispute, we estimate HRV will cost the industry more than $5 million through abandoned races.

"On anybody's reckoning, that would indicate that HRV Chief Executive John Anderson couldn't run a corner shop, let alone a multi-million dollar operation in an industry as important as racing."

Mr Melhem said HRV had admitted that they were more concerned about the public ramifications of being seen to reach agreement with a union than in actually averting industrial action.

"When it all boils down, every player in the harness racing industry relies on the integrity and professionalism of the stewards," Mr Melhem said.

"In return, the stewards deserve pay and conditions which are in line with community standards - and I don't think anybody would think it's fair that they work 45 hour weeks and are lucky if they take home $49,000 per year," he said.

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