Judge Upholds Foxwoods Casino Workers in Vote for UAW

by James Parks, Mar 14, 2008

In an important victory, a judge has upheld the vote by workers at Foxwoods Resort Casino, the largest private employer in Connecticut, to form a union with the UAW.

National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Administrative Law Judge Raymond Green today dismissed all of the objections to the November 2007 election in which the 2,600 workers overwhelmingly voted for the union.

The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and Foxwoods claimed the workers did not understand the ballot or the meaning of the union election. They also alleged misconduct by the union, including threats and intimidation. All of the allegations were dismissed.

Meanwhile, the workers have filed 35 unfair labor practice charges with the NLRB against the casino. Hearings on the charges begin March 25.

Denise Glaude, a casino dealer at Foxwoods, says:

We are thrilled that Judge Green affirmed that our election was a free and fair measure of the will of the dealers. We have won every ruling, and we won our election by a decisive margin.  We have waited long enough. Management needs to respect our majority, recognize our union and negotiate a fair contract.

Wei Ching Siu, a part-time dealer, says management could not split the workers, who come from many different backgrounds:

We speak many languages, but we all know how to say, “Union Yes!” And everybody who works here knew exactly what our election was about: We want a union! My co-workers and I want a healthy workplace, wages and benefits we can count on, and we want respect. We all knew what we were voting for. A huge majority of us worked hard to win our union.

The UAW represents over 8,000 gaming employees nationally. Recently, dealers at Caesars, Bally’s and Trump Plaza and other casinos in Atlantic City, N.J., voted for the UAW. The union also represents casino workers in Detroit, Newport, R.I., and Evansville, Ind. As UAW Secretary-Treasurer Elizabeth Bunn says:

Gaming employees have a definite home in our union. The dealers at Foxwoods join a growing tide of casino workers standing together and standing up for a voice on the job. 

At Foxwoods, dealer Jack Edwards is looking ahead:

We won. It’s decided. We are not going to wait another year of appeals, for more broken promises, more erosion of our health benefits and more people getting sick at work.

The Foxwoods dealers are already moving forward as a union, standing up publicly against unhealthy levels of secondhand smoke. Since the start of this legislative session, casino dealers have been urging passage of legislation that would remove the exemption of casinos from the state smoking ban.

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