Dealers Win Union at Wynn Resort

by James Parks, May 14, 2007

Wynn resort dealers celebrate joining a union.

Despite a massive anti-union campaign and personal appeal by billionaire casino owner Steve Wynn, dealers at the flagship Wynn Las Vegas resort voted overwhelming to join a union. The dealers voted 444–149 for the Transport Workers (TWU) over the weekend. 

Dealer Josephine Tang, one of the 60 members of the organizing committee, says the vote gives her and her co-workers one voice

that speaks loud and clear on issues that affect our pay, benefits, job security, our livelihoods and future. A union allows us to speak in unity. United we bargain, divided we beg.

This is the beginning of history being made. We are very proud of this moment. We have everything to look forward to from this moment on.

Workers began seeking a union in September after Wynn implemented a tip-sharing plan that cut into dealers’ takes. Dealers said the policy has resulted in a 15 percent to 20 percent cut in their tip income.

Steve Laux, a baccarat dealer, says the dealers are very happy about joining a union:

We’ve taken one of the largest casinos in Nevada and done something that Steve Wynn said we would never accomplish.

In a series of mandatory meetings, Wynn asked the dealers not to vote for the union. “I made a big mistake,” Wynn told them, according to an audio recording of one of the meetings posted on the Vegas Pundit blog of political commentator Jon Ralston. 

For more on the Wynn dealers’ effort to join TWU, click here.

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