Agua Caliente Closed Today After Workers Go on Strike

TIJUANA — Workers at Agua Caliente race track went on strike Friday night, shutting the popular track and six of seven off-track betting sites on the eve of the big Fourth of July weekend.

Jan Wood, the track’s publicist, said today’s 12-race program was canceled. With a settlement unlikely this weekend, Sunday’s races and Monday’s dog racing card probably will be scratched, she said.

“I don’t think they’ll resolve it,” Wood said. “They (union workers) always pick a weekend that will hurt.”

Also closed were three off-track betting locations in Tijuana, including one at the track, and sites in Ensenada, Tecate and Rosarito, Wood said. Off-track betting from other tracks will still be taken in Mexicali, she said.

Alba Roja, the union representing 1,500 cashiers, waiters, groundskeepers and other track employees, voted to strike over a management attempt to reduce the size of its labor force, Wood said.