July
MayStorm in a teacup
What a strange kerfuffle about Craig Newitt’s eight-year-old son being banned from the jockeys’ room.
In what other workplace could one expect to be able to bring one’s school-age children?
The jockeys’ room is a space where elite athletes prepare for a dangerous competition in which fortunes are won and lost.
It’s not a daycare centre.
The fact that Craig and numerous other children of jockeys spent much of their formative years in jockeys’ rooms is not a persuasive argument.
There are many practices that were common in 1980s workplaces but have fallen out of use today, usually for good reason.
If, as Craig states, his son performs the duties of a valet — preparing and cleaning gear, etc — he should be paid as a valet and trained appropriately.
In the (albeit unlikely) event that a jockey’s child gets hurt in the jockeys’ room, who would pay?
Bundoora (Vic)