The Labour department has been instructed to conduct regular advocacy campaigns to make grooms and trainers aware of their rights and responsibilities
On Wednesday, 14 November, the Portfolio Committee on Labour was briefed at Parliament by a Representative of Trainers on the working and living conditions of the grooms in the horse racing industry and on blitz inspections conducted by the Department of Labour in the horse racing industry, nationwide.
The committee observed, among other things, from the briefing that the horseracing industry is regulated by several departments, including the Department of Labour and the Department of Trade and Industry.
Grooms are employed by trainers, and trainers lease training premises from Phumelela Gaming and Leisure Ltd (Phumelela).
Phumelela is in charge of hostels where grooms live and trainers and grooms are not organised into recognised structures for negotiation purposes.
Based on these observations, the committee recommended that the trainers should organise themselves into an association of employers and that the grooms should organise themselves into a trade union.
The committee was informed by the department that a trade union for grooms has since been registered under the name, South African Horsing Workers Union (SAHWU). The committee also heard that the membership of the union currently stands at 7 000.
The committee requested the Department of Labour to assist trainers and Phumelela, to clarify their roles as joint employers of the grooms.
The department was also requested to conduct regular advocacy campaigns to make grooms and trainers aware of their rights and responsibilities.
- Media Release – Parliament of South Africa
