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Letter
# 16
Subj.: Dealer's
UNION
Date: 06/23/2000 11:13:46 AM Pacific Daylight
Time
From: #16-LV
To: Bronxguy37@aol.com
Hi!
I have received your e-mail concerning the "National
Federation of Gaming Employees" and am in full support.
I have given much thought to the organization of casino employees.
I have come from a very strong union background myself.
My grandfather was the president of the Painter's Union, my
father, brother, and myself
were all union painters. NOTHING beats a "trade union"!
I would like to offer a few suggestions to the
"building" of a "casino employee union" if I
may.
#1- it may be the wisest approach to build membership NOT
through complaints (although there will be many of them), but with
the promise of RETIREMENT and MEDICAL BENEFITS after retirement.
I believe this is the key. Casino management will understand and
be more receptive to this approach. Granted, many dealers
now have a 401K package, however, if the stock market crashes, so
does their retirement. We need a "Federally Insured PENSION
PLAN" not a 401K that can be wiped out over night!
At present, when and if we retire, we can only look forward to
"Blue Cross Blue Shield" for medical benefits. If a
major illness strikes us (we would be retired, which means we are
also more prone to major medical problems because of our age) it
could wipe out any retirement funds that we may have.
We need INSURANCE provided to us by the Union after we retire!
#2- ALL floorpeople should also be allowed to join our
Union! In any trade union, our floorpeople would be
classified as "Foremen and Forewomen" NOT management! In
a trade union, the foremen ARE UNION MEMBERS. The
floorpeople in the casinos are NOT management. When do they ever
make a managerial decision? NEVER! With the floorpeople
allowed to join us, we would get more support. A benefit that they
could receive is a "yearly clothing allowance" for their
suits.
#3- If the floorpeople are allowed to join, it would benefit
the Pit Managers and above. What the casinos would have to do to
get the floormen out of the ranks for promotion to Pit Manager and
above (first steps of true "management") is give them a
CONTRACT for their new positions! With this in mind, we would also
get the support of Pit Managers! They could have more security as
a result of our Union!
#4- RETIRE after ONE YEAR! If we could offer to dealers of
retirement age the possibility of retirement with full benefits,
we win over BOTH the old school dealers AND casino management. Any
dealer who can prove that they have been dealing a specified
length of time, say 10 years, and that they are of retirement age,
could
retire after one year of being in the union with full retirement
benefits. This would benefit those who have "paid their
dues" to the job, and it would also benefit the casinos. The
casinos would be able to now hire new YOUNG and FRESH faces for
their casino to replace those who retire! We all know that they
would love that! I know that most dealers at the casino
where I work are READY TO ORGANIZE. They are just waiting for
someone to lead the way! They talk about it every day in the
lounges! They want it! They NEED it! I am in support of a
Union. However, we may need to align ourselves with an already
established Union.
# 16-LV
XX YEARS in the "trenches"
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