Some Anti-Worker CEOs Not Working with a Full Deck

Denise Bowyer

Denise Bowyer, vice president of American Income Life Insurance Co. and secretary of American Income Life’s Labor Advisory Board, says casino mogul Sheldon Adelson is playing the wrong cards when it comes to the Employee Free Choice Act.

In recent days, Sheldon Adelson, casino billionaire, had this to say about the Employee Free Choice Act, legislation that if enacted, would level the playing field for workers seeking to join unions:

The Employee Free Choice Act is one of the two fundamental threats to society. [The other is "radical Islam.]

Give me a break: Employees choosing to form and how to form a union is not a threat to society. Truth be told, Sheldon Adelson, the fiercely anti-union billionaire casino mogul knows that passing the Employee Free Choice Act is a high-stakes game, and the only fundamental threat is to his bottom line.

Last count, Adelson has poured $30 million of his billions into the extremist anti-union front group Freedom’s Watch and fighting the Employee Free Choice Act, and demonizing the process which lets workers choose how they form a union.

Why is Adelson demonizing the Employee Free Choice Act?

To put it into casino terms: the Employee Free Choice Act shifts the “house advantage” away from employers and gives it to the workers. Of course, being a casino and gambling mogul, Sheldon earned his billions by understanding the “house advantage.” To date, this model has served him well. As an employer, he’d probably do just about anything to keep that house advantage.

The Employee Free Choice Act makes it easier for a worker to decide how to join a union, shifting the house advantage to the player.

Let’s do the math. For a worker, like the dealers, the hostesses, housekeeping and maintenance staff, the difference between a union wage and a nonunion wage is $1.50 per hour, and that’s before benefits are factored.

In this equation, the worker is betting that organizing equals an average gain of $1.50 per hour. Based on a nonunion wage, that automatically would add 10 percent to their pot. I would gamble that a worker would take those odds any day. Adelson is threatened that a worker might decide to put the odds in his or her favor.

In Adelson’s billionaire world, opulence is the norm. For the average worker, the norm is struggling to keep food on the table, gas in the car and health insurance for the kids. Strange how in protecting America’s real interest, he’ll throw away 3 percent of his pot, to limit a workers’ odds at increasing their pot by 10 percent.

In opposing the Employee Free Choice Act, Sheldon is shortsighted to the long-term win.

Given the choice, what worker wouldn’t take the “player advantage”? The house would still make money, but the owner’s rake wouldn’t be quite so high.

The Employee Free Choice Act makes it easier for workers to organize at places like Adelson’s casino and for those who visit his casino.

A worker with a little extra cash just might be able to fill the car with gas, drive to Vegas, spend a night, play a slot or two and feast on the Sunday brunch. There’s a win for everyone. That’s smart long-term business….

The Employee Free Choice Act is a high-stakes game. This time, Adelson is betting on the wrong side of the house.

(Adelson is one of eight corporate execs and extremist politicians in the running for our Chicken Little Sky Is Falling Bizarre Corporate Panic Over Workers’ Rights Award for the most hysterical and extreme comments on the Employee Free Choice Act. Click here for more info.)

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