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Casinos Attempt To Thwart Organizing Drive, NCDA Fights Back!
NEVADA CASINO DEALERS
ASSOCIATION
1067 Griffith Avenue
Las Vegas, Nevada 89104
(702) 474-9766
Fax: (702) 474-9767
April 3, 2000
To:
Sam W. Nolen, Director Gregory C. Jones, Chairman
Illinois State Police Illinois Gaming Board
125 East Monroe St. Room 103 160 N. LaSalle, Ste S-300
P.O. Box 19461 Chicago, IL 60601
Springfield, IL 62794-9461
(Certified Mail-Return Receipt)
Enclosure: Literature handout- dealer bulletin
Gentlemen:
My name is Tony Badillo and I am the President of the Nevada
Casino Dealers Association. The purpose of this letter to provide
an account of two events: one, in which employers and their agents
acted unlawfully in full conflict with the Labor Management
Relations Act, 1947, by interfering with, restraining and coercing
employees at an Illinois casino; the other, a serious and
deliberate denial of my constitutional rights.
Federal law unequivocally establishes an employee's right to
freely associate with his fellow employees for the purposes of
self-organization, to form or join a union, or to assist a labor
organization, or to engage in other concerted activities to
improve their working conditions and their general welfare. At the
same time it is unlawful and it is against public policy for any
employer to interfere with, restrain, or coerce employees in the
exercise of these rights.
Specifically, the Norris-LaGuardia Act, 47 Stat. 70 (1932), 29
U.S.C. §§ 101-15 (1982) Sec. 2., states,
.." it is
necessary that he (the worker) have full freedom of association,
self-organization, and designation of representatives of his own
choosing, to negotiate the terms and conditions of his employment,
and that he shall be free from the interference, restraint, or
coercion of employers of labor, or their agents, in the
designation of such representatives or in self-organization or in
other concerted activities"
.
Further, the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947, § 7. (§ 157),
states, Employees shall have the right to self-organization, to
form join, or assist labor organizations, to bargain collectively
through representatives of their own choosing, and to engage in
other concerted activities
or other mutual aid and
protection"
§ 8. (§ 158) (a), goes on to say,
"It shall be an unfair labor practice for an employer --- (1)
to interfere with, restrain, or coerce employees in the exercise
of the rights guaranteed in section 7;"
In Lechmere v. NLRB (502 U.S. 527, 112 S.Ct. 841, 117 L.Ed.2d
527), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on a case to clarify the
relationship between the rights of the employees under the NLRA (§
7 of the NLRA, 49 Stat. 452 as amended, 29 U.S.C. § 157), and the
property rights of their employers.
The Court's ruling stated that prevailing conditions..
"place(s) the employees beyond the reach of reasonable union
efforts to communicate with them," ibid., employer's property
rights may be "required to yield to the extent needed to
permit communication of information on the right to
organize," (id. at 112, 76 S.CT., at 684).
The Court ordered the employer to
."cease and desist from
barring the union organizers"
.. and post signs to that
effect in conspicuous places throughout the workplace.
This ruling is especially relevant to the casino work environment
because gaming employees are not permitted to engage in
conversations with non-employees or to loiter in the casino
workplace when they leave the pit working area on the way to the
break room. This situation is markedly similar to those shown in
Lechmere, where prevailing conditions placed the employees
"beyond the reach of reasonable union efforts to communicate
with them."
The first unlawful event occurred at about noon on Friday March
24, 2000 at the Grand Victoria Casino in Elgin, Ill. Rather than
repeat the incident that was relayed to me, I am including a copy
of the following e-mail that I received at 10:35 PM PST on
3/24/00. This is an actual scanned copy of the message and it will
explain the incident better than I can:
"hello,
I work at the Grand Victoria casino in Elgin, IL., I was in the
break room when a
man came in and left some pamphlets on the tables. He then left
quickly. A few of us dealers started to read them. The pamphlets
were about the national (or Nevada Casino Dealers Association.) I
read and agreed with some of the ideas brought up on the sheet. We
started discussing the idea of having a union, but thought that it
would never happen. Not more than one second after we started
talking about the idea a group of security officers came through
the breakroom and started collecting the sheets. A co-worker had
just sat down and started reading the sheet and the guard asked
him for it. He said, "no, I want to read it." The guard
than said to hand it over "right now". He took it
literally out of the dealers hands. He then took mine out of my
hands as he walked by. I was able to remember this email address
from the sheet. A few friends of mine were able to hang on to some
of the sheets and have talked about making copies and handing them
out. One question: isn't it illegal for them to block an effort to
unionize? they WOULD NOT let us read the sheets. Do they have to
or do they just need to provide a bulletin board for info to be
posted..?
Anyway, when the sheets were confiscated it made me really want to
find out more. I have tried to go to the website but it wont load
up, must be down. So if there is any info you can give me I would
appreciate it. I would certainly pass any info on, as well. I am
sure that tomorrow there will be a sign or memo telling us to
"not pay attention" to the idea of unionizing, that they
take very good care of us. it has happened before. Honestly, it
isn't as bad as some places, but the dealers still get stepped on.
I know that a lot of us are sick of it, also. So please respond
with any ideas or help that you have to offer.
Thank you."
The second unlawful event took place the same day at the Hollywood
Casino in Aurora, Illinois. I was in Illinois visiting my daughter
and during the visit planned to deliver literature and contact
casino employees in the area to promote a liaison and establish a
dialog with the possibility of eventually improving work
standards, job security, benefits and working conditions for
gaming dealers throughout the country.
At about 2:30 PM I went into the Hollywood Casino accompanied by
my son-in-law, Dr. David Ihrke, who lives in the Chicago area and
provided transportation to the two casinos described in this
letter. Dr. Ihrke remained in the Hollywood Casino area, as he did
in the 12-noon visit to the Grand Victoria Casino described above.
I then went to the dealer's area and left some literature inviting
the employees to contact the Association, and then immediately
left.
Before I could exit the casino a female security guard who asked
if I was distributing "propaganda" stopped me. When I
answered affirmatively, I was ordered to follow her to the
security office. The guard made a radio call and was soon joined
by a uniformed Illinois State Police Officer (#1), and the three
of us proceeded to the security office. After arriving in the
office the guard established my identity and interviewed me.
Within five minutes a second uniformed Illinois State Police
Officer (#2), who I believe to be a sergeant, arrived at the
office.
I was then told that
they were preparing an "eviction" notice for me. After
it was
prepared she told me to sign the document. I asked for a copy and
was told it was not policy and that I would not get a copy. When I
insisted, the (#2) uniformed police officer said, "sign it,
or else!" I was now faced with a direct order, as well as a
threat from an Illinois State Police Officer. I was forced to
sign. I then asked for both of the officer's names and badge
numbers and the security guard's name. The police officers and the
security guard refused my request.
Upon reading the eviction notice I noted it stated, to my best
recollection, that I caused a commotion and resisted their orders.
Both of these statements were untrue. But, because I was
threatened and felt intimidated, I felt compelled to sign the
notice. I was then told that if I returned to the casino I would
be arrested. I was then escorted from the security office to the
casino area. When I met with my son-in-law, Dr. Ihrke in the
casino area, the security guard asked for his ID, and then leaving
me and my son-in- law with the two State Policemen, she proceeded
back up to the security office to generate another eviction notice
for Dr. Ihrke, who she falsely designated as my
"assistant." Upon her return with the eviction notice
for Dr. Ihrke, he was ordered to sign the document, which he did.
I was then escorted, along with my son-in-law, out of the casino.
Since all three individuals refused to identify themselves in
spite of my repeated requests, the following descriptions of the
individuals are offered to assist in their identification:
1. Security guard
Female, Caucasian, height: 5' 2", weight: 110 lbs., hair:
dark, short and curly, age: late thirties.
,
2. Uniformed police officer (#1)
Male, Caucasian, height: 6', weight: 200 lbs., sandy blond hair,
age: early forties.
3. Uniformed police officer (#2)
Male, Caucasian, height: 5' 8", weight: 210 lbs., hair: gray,
thinning, age: early sixties, may have been a sergeant, claimed to
be on the force 30 years.
As a result of these events I found it necessary to retain an
attorney from the Chicago area in an attempt to obtain copies of
the eviction documents and other relative data as well as to
provide advice in this matter.
It is our assertion that the casinos, and their agents, aided and
abetted by the Illinois State Police Officers fabricated and
created a set of circumstances in which myself and Dr. Ihrke were
falsely accused of causing a commotion in the casino, and then
falsely accused of resisting orders when they restrained and
inhibited our free movement Additionally, I was unlawfully
detained, and threatened, and forced to sign a potentially
incriminating document.
All charges are patently false, and the actions taken by the
security guard and the State
Police Officers based on those charges were unlawful and
constitute a denial of my constitutional rights, and those of my
son-in-law, Dr. Ihrke.
Furthermore we maintain that the practice of claiming a person is
"disruptive" is simply a ploy used by the casinos to
unlawfully exclude people from their establishments who may
present to their employees a view opposed to their own. In
effect, they are trying to misuse The Riverboat Gambling Act (230
IL CS 10) section c. 12 in a way that suits their purpose. The
section states that they can eject
."a person who
interferes with the orderly conduct of the gaming
establishment." It does not permit them to eject a person
because they have a
different view of employer-employee relations than they do.
The events described above, in our view, constitute unlawful acts
committed by individuals who apparently feel they are above the
law and untouchable. The acts committed violate federal statutes
designed to protect the rights of workers and ensure the economic
health of commerce and industry in this country. But, in addition
to the disregard of federal labor law these individuals show a
contemptuous indifference to our constitutional guarantees. This
tends to cast a dark shadow reminiscent of the Fascists of WW II,
who demanded a signed
confession prior to the execution of their victims, so they could
"prove" the guilt of the souls they ravaged.
The refusal of the
uniformed officers to identify themselves is in itself an ominous
omen. And, all these activities were performed by individuals
working as agents of a corporation holding a privilege license
issued by the State of Illinois. As you know, holding a gaming
license is a privilege not a right, and those entities that
possess them must follow the rules of our society with care and
precision. Such was not the case here.
Based on these facts we wish to file a formal complaint in this
matter against the three unnamed individuals involved, against the
Hollywood Casino-Aurora, Inc., the Elgin Riverboat Resort, and the
Illinois State Police. We also wish to request that both the
Illinois State Police and the Illinois Gaming Board initiate an
investigation to determine the identity of the security guards
involved in the Grand Victoria incident as well as the female
security guard in the Hollywood Casino, and the two Illinois State
Police Officers involved in that incident.
Additionally, we wish this letter to serve as notice of request in
accordance with the Illinois Freedom of Information Act,
Subsection 2(c) & Section 3 which defines public records to
include "reports" and "tapes" and requires
that public bodies make public records available to any
individual"
..
We therefore request a copy of the eviction reports for myself and
Dr. Ihrke made on the date in question and that a copy of the
security videotapes made of the incident, be made available to us.
We would also request that you take whatever steps you deem
necessary to gather, preserve and protect all evidence, files,
reports, papers, photographs, video tapes, or any other data which
is in any way relative to this matter.
We would appreciate it if you would contact us at your earliest
convenience.
Sincerely,
Tony Badillo,
President
Jack M. Lipsman, Vice President
Nevada Casino Dealers Association
Cc: Jim Ryan, Illinois Attorney General
James R. Thompson Center
100 West Randolph St.
Chicago, IL 60601
William C. Schaub, Regional Director
National Labor Relations Board
Patrick V. McNamara Fed. Bldg., Rm. 300
477 Michigan Ave.
Detroit, MI 48226-2569
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