the current (and few) players are making A FRACTION of what they
did pre strike. in palm beach the late game players ie. saez,
felix, bolivar etc were base lining at 6-8k monthly, plus win/place
show purse money, cesta allowance money, end of season bonus,
a flat three bucks to every player just for playing in a game,
personal trainer, 100 percent medical for them and their entire
family, visa/parimutual license paid in full, plus an assortment
of other perks, benefits. as far as 'requests asked for by
the union' none were made, the official party line fom glen
jones/lasa was 'unfair labor practices' which none of
players could explain, or expand on (even before the union was
formed) many of the players (remain nameless) wrote silvester
letters telling him they wanted to play for him, but threats were
made to their families back in spain etc. So NO, the players (at
least in palm beach) were NOT mistreated, abused etc. they followed
like sheep and unknowingly helped destroy their industry. the
pre strike early game players were making more than the current
pay scale now with far fewer perks etc. Lasa had a mission his
father failed to do years earlier by organizing the players for
a strike which his father failed to benefit the players, so he
wanted to have his son make 'the greedy owners pay'
and ignorantly had no idea how to do it other than walking out
without any, yes any demands, until the union picked them up,
and told them what to ask for. by then they had already inflicted
the begining death blow to the industry, and the rest,........is
history.
