Jack Picinich, Chair

Dominick Bologna

Jim Kellogg

Brenda Moslock, DVM

Kurt Minersagen, PEF Field Representative

Edward Martin, Executive Director

Stephanie Donato, Secretary to the Board

Edward Hamilton, Assistant to Executive Director

Jennifer Whalen, Assistant Counsel

Alan Ross, The Labor/Management Institute

Jack Picinich welcomed all to the meeting and introduced Alan Ross from the Labor-Management Institute. Jack Picinich and Kurt Minersagen introduced members of the committee to Alan.

The Labor/Management Institute (LMI) was established at the encouragement of the Governor's Office Employee Relations (GOER) in order to develop and provide training and soft mediation for New York State government employees. The LMI provides individually tailored one and two-day workshops at a neutral location for labor-management committees to assist the committees in creating a constructive working relationship. The first day of the workshop covers the basics including agenda development, meeting preparation, meeting communications, effective use of minutes, etc. The second day walks participants through a meeting, putting to use the ideas presented the previous day. After the initial training workshop the LMI may revisit a committee as the committee evolves and issues develop depending on the needs of the committee.

Requests for a LMI workshop must be filed through GOER. The workshop would be funded out of a contract agreement between PEF and the LMI with no direct costs to the Racing and Wagering Board or PEF. Alan commented that the LMI’s contract with PEF technically expires on March 31,

1999. He anticipates that the contract will be renewed, and encouraged Jack Picinich to submit an application soon if the committee was interested. Committee members agreed, and an application was submitted by Jack after the meeting. The focus of the workshop will be a general overview of labor management committee function, since members agreed that the committee is not currently experiencing any difficult issues which need to be resolved. Alan distributed three handouts about L/M committees and the LMI workshops, and departed from the meeting. Tentative dates of May 10^th and 11^th were discussed, pending approval of the LMI. Suggestions for a neutral location included the Marriott or the Desmond in Albany, and the Queensbury in Glens Falls. The LMI will also be consulted for their site suggestions.

II. Minutes From the Last Meeting:

Committee members read and approved the minutes from the last meeting held on December 4, 1999.

The issue at hand is whether the Racing and Wagering Board should pay employees for holidays if the holiday falls on a track’s "dark day". Ed Hamilton reported that the Board may not be able to decide on this issue itself and is awaiting consultation from GOER and Civil Service. Kurt Minersagen suggested that the real dilemma is how to interpret a "dark day" within the framework of the time and attendance rules. For example, Thanksgiving was a dark day for Saratoga this past year. Saratoga typically races on Thursdays, but because Thursday, November 26^th was Thanksgiving, the track was closed. Ed Martin commented that this example illustrated a valid distinction. The reason November 26^th was a dark day at Saratoga was because it was Thanksgiving, as opposed to another track where every Thursday is a dark day. The committee will await the Board’s response from GOER and Civil Service.

Jack Picinich reported that PEF Counsel generally approved the current appointment letter with the exception that the time frame of the work day would vary from position to position and should be clearly spelled out in each letter. Nothing in writing was submitted to the Racing and Wagering Board Counsel from the PEF Counsel.

Ed Martin informed the committee of an issue that has arisen at the Board regarding outside employment of per-diem employees. The Board is considering whether to require per- diem employees to formally disclose any outside employment that they have and obtain Board approval for such employment. The goal of this proposed policy is to ward off potential problems regarding conflicts-of-interest. This is an ethics issue with respect to the Public Office Law. The committee will be updated at the next meeting.

Ed Hamilton reported that, in general, the Racing and Wagering Board is agreeable to reimbursing travel expenses for employees who are directed to go to a different racetrack in order to fill the needs of the Board. However, the Board is concerned that employees will stop coming forward to volunteer for extra work assignments during their track’s dark days, because of a financial incentive to wait until they are directed to go by the Board. Various ideas were raised, including having separate policies for travel during one’s assigned track season and for the off-season, whether payment should be tied into the longevity of the assignment, distinguishing between voluntary and involuntary assignments, and having employees state in writing to the Board if, when, and where they are interested in working outside their track’s normal racing season. Ed Hamilton proposed that a sub-committee be formed to explore different scenarios and develop a policy proposal for travel pay. The committee agreed, and will wait to hear a report from the sub-committee at the next meeting.

Jim Kellogg reported that a veterinarian employed by the Racing and Wagering Board has inquired as to whether the Board would cover the expense for him to receive a rabies vaccination. Although there is no state or board mandate that all veterinarians be vaccinated for rabies, it is highly recommended since rabies is endemic in New York and veterinarians are considered a high risk group for exposure to infected animals. Rabies was confirmed in two horses at the Saratoga track last year. The concern was raised that all Board employees at the tracks might want to be vaccinated at the expense of the Board. Dr. Brenda Moslock commented that all persons who regularly work with animals are not recommended to be vaccinated, just those persons at highest risk for exposure, like veterinarians who would be called in to examine a sick animal exhibiting signs of rabies. Ed Hamilton will investigate if rabies vaccinations for Board employed veterinarians could be covered by existing health insurance policies; he will also check with the Department of Environmental Conservation as to their policy for handling rabies prophylaxis in their employees. Kurt Minersagen suggested that Ed might also contact the Department of Corrections since they have similar policies with respect to vaccinations for hepatitis.

Jim Kellogg proposed that the Racing and Wagering Board provide for informal brown bag lunch meetings for PEF employees. PEF would bring in the speakers, at no cost to the Board, who would cover such topics as employee benefits, etc. Ed Martin enthusiastically welcomed the idea commenting that he and the Chairman could attend the meetings at the Board Headquarters to meet with employees, gathering feedback as to "what is working" and "what isn’t working". When he and other Board officials travel out to the tracks, they would like to meet with employee representatives to air concerns and start a healthy dialogue, moving beyond just the 25% pay cut issue. The Board would like to explore bigger issues, such as whether or not the agency is structured effectively, how the agency could evolve to make things more efficient, etc. Ed is looking for ideas to create a better working arrangement for everyone involved.

In response to a letter from PEF to Chairman Hoblock about contacting the Governor’s office to discuss reinstating the salaries to the level before the 25% pay cut, Chairman Hoblock asked Ed Martin to relay the following issues for PEF to consider. He suggested that PEF contact state legislators to deal with this during their budget talks. The Governor’s Budget Committee has proposed that the racing industry itself should support the Racing Division of the Racing and Wagering Board. The Racing Division is currently funded by the General Fund, which is constantly under enormous budgetary pressure. If the forwarded proposal goes through, a "Special Revenue Account" would be created to fund the Racing Division. The current proposal is a "take-out proposal" meaning that money for the revenue fund would come out of monies wagered at the track.

The meeting was adjourned. A date for the next meeting will be set at a later time.

These minutes were reviewed and approved by:

Jack Picinich, Chair, PEF Labor/Management Committee

Ed Martin, Executive Director, Racing and Wager Board