After approximately nine months of negotiation involving the two trainers’ associations and the grooms’ association agreement has finally been reached to increase the pay of grooms. The increase was announced during the launch of the McKay Security Limited-sponsored New Year’s Race Day at Caymanas Park on Tuesday December 19.

It was a long battle between the United Racehorse Trainers’ Association of Jamaica (URTAJ), the Jamaica Racehorse Trainers’ Association (JRTA) and the Grooms’ Association of Jamaica (GAJ), but with the intervention of Jason McKay and his team of consultants from McKay Security Limited, the associations signed off on a new deal.

Grooms will now be paid $3,500 per horse per week after taxes, with the new deal set to take effect in the first week of January 2018. In addition to being paid for every horse in their care, all grooms will continue to earn an additional five per cent of the allotted stakes when their horses finish from first to sixth.

In 2014, the URTAJ had agreed to a 20 per cent increase to be spread over a two-year period, with 10 per cent being offered in the first year and another 10 per cent in year two for the grooms.

At that time, grooms were taking home $2,500 per horse after the deduction of taxes. The 10 per cent increase which was effective in October of 2014 translated to $322, which meant that grooms would take home $2,822 per horse after the deduction of taxes for the period October 31, 2014 to October 31, 2015. In the second year, grooms would then receive the same $322 increase which would then be added to the $2,822 amount for a total of $3,144.

Vincent Edwards, president for JRTA, said that circumstances led him to agree on the increase for the grooms.

“Well, Supreme Ventures Limited came here, and this was something I didn’t agree with, but they offered us a 20 per cent increase. The reason why I didn’t agree with them was that as an employer you don’t give workers an increase without knowing their expenses and so I didn’t agree with it, but it is here. Because of that, it gives us the bargaining power to have theincrease for the grooms and therefore based upon that, I have decided that we would agree to an increase,” Edwards told the Supreme Racing Guide. Ryan Darby, president of URTAJ, also agreed on the increase for the grooms.

Fabian White, president of the GAJ, said that his association welcomed the increase with open arms.

“It is satisfactory to us. Grooms usually take home like $8,000 a week for three horses, and now they will be taking home $10,500 a week for three horses. But why I am so happy about this new deal is that I have been in racing for a very long time and a lot of negotiations have taken place with Mr Edwards (Vincent) and this man never budged. He had never yet said yes to an increase for grooms before.

“In this meeting I think it was a bit heated, because something had to be done. I believe in negotiations, so when I saw it wasn’t going anywhere, Mr McKay (Jason) intervened and he talked to all of us in a meeting, and to my surprise Mr (Vincent) Edwards agreed to an increase. That brought joy to my heart and gave me goose bumps,” White admitted.