Maryland racing heads into the final week of the year with the possibility of two job actions taking place -- a walkout by jockeys next Sunday if a nationwide contract dispute with track owners is not settled by midnight Saturday, and a strike by union employees at Laurel/Pimlico if a new contract is not ratified by Jan. 3.
Nationally, talks are stalled between the Thoroughbred Racing Associations and the Jockeys' Guild.
But locally, some progress is being made in negotiations between Maryland Jockey Club management and Local 27 of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, which represents about 750 employees such as mutuel workers, security, parking and admissions personnel, jockey valets and the starting gate crew.
"We're making headway on the health and welfare part of the package, but it's been slower going on the economic side of the contract," said Buddy Mays, the union president.
Mays and track co-owner and general counsel Marty Jacobs spent most of the past week hammering out the details of a move away from conventional Blue Cross/Blue Shield medical coverage to a managed care system.
"The best bid we've had so far is from M.D. IPA which is one of the biggest managed-care groups in the state," Mays said. "It has the largest network of doctors and hospitals that could serve our membership.
"The track will use this system to provide coverage for all its workers, including management and union as well as nonunion staff. The trend is toward managed care throughout the country instead of conventional insurance. However, we are trying to find a way for employees to co-pay for health care if they want coverage outside of the network.
"If we go to M.D. IPA we'll start enrollment next week so that on Jan. 1 everything goes smoothly and we don't miss a beat. This is contingent upon acceptance by the membership."
Mays said he has had direct contact with track president Joe De Francis in efforts to solve contract problems in areas such as pay cuts and other proposed reductions.
"On Tuesday, I'll be meeting with members of our negotiating team and then that afternoon I'll meet one-on-one with De Francis," Mays said. "Neither side wants a dispute. We know the track is looking for a lot of give-backs, but that can't work.
"There's so much uncertainty about the future, even though the tracks finally seem to be headed in the right direction. Still, there could be some tough times ahead. Maybe we'll go for a shorter-term contract. We're toying with all sorts of ideas. The bottom line is for everyone to feel safe that no one is out to cheat anybody."
Ultimately, Mays added, the contract presented to the employees might not be recommended by the union. "It might be something that, for right now, we keep what we have, and not move forward," Mays said. "That's something the union would stay neutral on and leave up to the membership to decide."
Nothing doing today, tomorrow
There will be no live racing at Laurel Park or multi-card simulcasts offered at any of Maryland's eight betting outlets today or tomorrow.
Action will resume Monday, when the live feature at Laurel will be the $30,000 Ambernash Stakes. The race has drawn a field of eight 2-year-olds, including two minor stakes winners, Tims Anchor and Step Out Dancing.
Tims Anchor, trained by Hamilton Smith, won the Dover Stakes last summer at Delaware Park. Step Out Dancing captured the West Virginia Futurity at Charles Town.
The likely favorite is Without Remorse, an invader from The Meadowlands trained by John Tammaro III. The horse finished second in the Comet Stakes and third in the Princeton Stakes.
Another New Jersey horse, Onto Luck, has won his past two starts in maiden and allowance company. He's trained by Ned Allard, who has won three Maryland stakes this year with fillies Pleasant Dilemma and Ask Shananie.