Greg Rayburn, president and chief executive officer of New York City Off-Track Betting (NYC OTB), warned that some of the agency’s unions are standing in the way of changes that he believes can save the city’s fledgling horseracing industry.
Among the changes facing OTB, Rayburn wants to cut 400 jobs, eliminate union seniority rules and Sunday overtime, close 11 of 61 betting parlors and open an OTB sports bar.
Rayburn set a hard deadline for Tuesday, August 31, because that was the deadline for employees to sign up for the state’s early retirement incentive, which will enable those who lose their jobs to receive benefits and severance packages.
“The fallback option would be the liquidation of the business,” said Rayburn. “Liquidation is not just a bad outcome for NYC OTB, but for the entire racing industry in New York.”
The deadline came and went without an agreement between the two parties, leaving Rayburn to state that, “As a result, there will be no early retirement incentives. Management of NYC OTB will continue to work with its Unsecured Creditors Committee to determine the path forward.”
Lenny Allen, who represents 1,200 unionized OTB employees in Local 2021, accused Rayburn of forcing the union to make unreasonable concessions in order to keep the operation in business. Allen believes the two parties are at an impasse and that Rayburn will have to make some changes to the deal.
“There are certain concessions he’s asking for that we can’t give him,” said Allen. “He wants to lay off my senior staff and keep temporary un-benefited people because they are cheaper.”
Allen said that only seven of his union members would qualify for the retirement package being offered by Rayburn, something that he said is fundamentally unacceptable. Allen also said that he would be willing to strike a deal with Rayburn if the early retirement incentive was open to all members.
“This is not humane. It takes away the union’s dignity and we can’t agree to that,” said Allen. “I have no wiggle room. I cannot agree to a deal that lets senior workers be fired or laid off in favor of junior or per diem workers.”
During a conference call with reporters on August 27, Rayburn said that OTB’s debts stand at $95 million, with two-thirds owed to racetracks. He also said that New York Raceway Association (NYRA) and Yonkers Raceway were willing to take over OTB’s phone and Internet betting operations, valued at $20 million, as a settlement.
