As the deadline for a possible nationwide jockeys walkout Sunday edges closer, feelings on the issue have intensified at Laurel Park.
Yesterday, John E. Mooney, the track's senior vice president and general manager, warned Jimmy Edwards, local representative for the Jockeys' Guild, that the Maryland Jockey Club will institute legal action if necessary if the guild violates antitrust laws by encouraging a job action by the local riders.
The guild is not a union and does not have the authority by law to organize a strike.
Mooney's warning came after Edwards met with the Laurel riders yesterday to inform them of the status of talks between the guild and the Thoroughbred Racing Associations, a group that represents track owners.
Talks between the two groups are stalled after each side turned down the other's proposals last week. The guild's executive board held a conference call Monday night and developed some new initiatives, a source said. But nothing has been discussed publicly.
"I have no problem with a guild representative coming
in and keeping the jockeys informed," Mooney said. "But if the purpose of the meeting goes beyond that and the format is used to organize the riders against us, then we will entertain suing."
Edwards would only say that yesterday's meeting was used for informational purposes only. Mooney, however, said he had "heard otherwise."
At issue in the nationwide dispute is finding a mechanism for the jockeys to raise more money for an increased benefits package. They want a larger contribution from the TRA, but the track owners have offered only the current $1.7 million, arguing that the riders are independent contractors.
In Arcadia, Calif., yesterday, a spokesman said the Jockeys' Guild is fielding offers from individual tracks aimed at averting a walkout.
The guild sent out contract proposals to tracks last week, guild national manager John Giovanni said, and has received three counter-offers.
Speaking from his Lexington, Ky., office, Giovanni wouldn't say which tracks responded, or if they stuck to the TRA's most recent offer on jockeys' accident and health insurance financing.
TRA executive vice president Chris Scherf said any track that accepts the guild's proposal "would have a death wish."