|
Mar. 17,
2009
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
Unions
combine to put pressure on U.S. casinos
Four large labor groups band together as
several contract talks remain stalled
By WAYNE
PARRY
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ATLANTIC CITY -- Four of the nation's
largest labor unions will team to
kick-start stalled contract talks with
casinos in four states, starting with
New Jersey, officials announced Monday.
The United Auto Workers, the AFL-CIO,
the Transport Workers Union and the
Service Employees International Union
are forming a Gaming Workers' Council,
designed to put the combined muscle of
15 million union members behind casino
unionization drives across the country.
The council will concentrate on
dragged-out contract talks in Atlantic
City but will also try to revive stalled
negotiations in Nevada, Indiana and
Connecticut.
The UAW has won representation elections
at four Atlantic City casinos but has
not reached a contract with any of them
after two years of bargaining.
"We voted for the right and won the
right to be at the table," said Sharon
Masino, a dealer at Caesars Atlantic
City. "But instead of security, we have
insecurity. We don't have a contract;
management can do what they want.
"They've been cutting back on our
benefits, and they're trying to cut back
on our 401k."
Masino said she spends $110 per week on
health insurance coverage and still has
$7,000 in unpaid medical bills. To cut
costs, her husband has been taking only
half the required dosage of prescription
medication to treat seizures and
recently suffered another attack because
of it, she said.
"This is how Caesars is treating its
employees, while our CEO made $15
million in compensation," she said. "I'm
quite sure no one in his household is
cutting their pills in half to get by."
A spokeswoman for Caesars' parent
company, Harrah's Entertainment Inc.,
did not return messages seeking comment.
In Las Vegas, the Transport Workers
Union has been in talks with Wynn Las
Vegas and Caesars Palace for nearly two
years, said union Vice President Harry
Lombardo.
"If we are to best represent workers in
the gaming industry, unions need to take
a national and perhaps global approach,
and that is exactly what we are doing
today," he said.
The council plans to conduct publicity
campaigns, lobby elected officials,
stage rallies and conduct other
activities aimed at pressuring casino
owners to reach agreements with the
unions.
In Atlantic City, the UAW has won
elections at Caesars, Trump Plaza Hotel
and Casino, the Tropicana Casino and
Resort, and Bally's Atlantic City.
The union has authorized a strike at the
Tropicana but has held off in carrying
it out. Elizabeth Bunn, the UAW's
secretary-treasurer, would not address
the likelihood of a walkout. She said
only that "the best way to avoid a
strike is to have a fair contract."
Elsewhere, contract talks are ongoing at
Casino Aztar in Evansville, Ind., and at
Foxwoods Resort Casino in Ledyard, Conn.
Tina Phillips, a casino cashier at the
MGM Grand Detroit, which signed a
contract with its casino floor workers,
said things are going well there.
"Our contract has good wages and
benefits," she said. "We get a raise
every year. We pay $10 co-pays for
doctor visits and $5 for prescription
drugs. Detroit casinos are a success.
Our message to Atlantic City and Las
Vegas is: We did it and so can you."
John Sweeney, president of the AFL-CIO,
said it is in the casinos' best interest
to reach contracts with their workers.
"Companies that are at war with their
employees are not helping themselves
survive," he said. "In hard times, you
need all the friends you can get."
Sweeney said the AFL-CIO recently
canceled a convention it had planned to
host at the Paris Las Vegas "because of
Harrah's anti-union behavior."
|
