News Briefs
Vegas casinos offer wage hike to stop union organizing
Mar 13, 2008 11:57 AM
Sometimes just the threat of a union coming in to a workplace brings gains to workers. After Transport Workers Union of America launched efforts to organize dealers at two of the MGM Mirage resorts, the company countered by raising the base salaries of its Strip casino dealing staff. Some of the 5,100 MGM Mirage dealers at 10 Las Vegas Strip casinos will see their paychecks increase by as much as 22 percent, and the union is taking credit for the move and pledging to continue the drive.
“Those raises are the direct result of our organizing efforts,” said Steve Roberts, an international organizer for the Transport Workers and a director of Las Vegas Dealers Local 721. “The company might have appeased some employees who were sitting on the fence from joining the union, but we’re moving ahead with our plans.”
Roberts called the raises “an empty sack. The hotels did the same thing in 2001 to keep the unions out. It’s all about power and control.”
Other casino operators said they would take a closer look at the MGM Mirage raises and will likely match them.
Las Vegas Review-Journal, Feb 27
