Atlantic City Casino Workers Standing Firm for Fair Contract
 |
|
Two years after voting for the UAW, gaming employees at casinos in Atlantic City, N.J., still don’t have contracts. But they are standing firm in support of their freedom to bargain.
Management at Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino still refuses to bargain with the union despite a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruling last year that management engaged in unfair labor practices. The NLRB ordered the casino to negotiate in good faith, but that hasn’t happened, the union says.
AFL-CIO Thanks Sweeney for His Service as President
 |
|
During the 2009 AFL-CIO Convention, President John Sweeney will be stepping down after more than five decades in the union movement and 14 years heading the AFL-CIO. Today, the AFL-CIO Convention unanimously approved a resolution honoring Sweeney and pledging to carry on his values and his hard work.
Union leaders and activists from across the movement stood in support of the resolution, praising Sweeney as a leader and as a person.
As president of the AFL-CIO, Sweeney has fought to strengthen local union organizations and get them involved in their communities, and he also has strengthened the global union movement and increased the role of America’s unions in fighting for workers around the world. Through the creation of Working America, Sweeney helped mobilize and educated 3 million workers without a union. Through the founding of the Alliance for Retired Americans, he gave a voice to 4 million retirees and kept them actively engaged. It’s a record to be proud of and a legacy that will keep the union movement strong in the future.
Diversity Summit: Future of Unions Depends on Including All Workers
 |
| UAW Secretary-Treasurer Elizabeth Bunn (center), Nat LaCour, recently retired AFT secretary-treasurer, and AFL-CIO President John Sweeney were among speakers at the AFL-CIO Diversity Conference today. |
 |
| More than 500 participants took part in the standing-room only AFL-CIO Diversity Conference. |
 |
The future of the union movement depends upon our ability to recruit and promote people of color and women, the fastest growing groups of union members. Today, at the AFL-CIO National Summit on Diversity, more than 500 union activists celebrated the progress made since passage of the historic adoption of Resolution #2 at the 2005 AFL-CIO Convention, which set goals to make the movement more diverse. They also mapped strategy to increase diversity at every level in the future.
In a strong and emotional speech, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said the priority on diversity in his leadership may well become the biggest legacy of his 14 years leading the federation.
“If we are to have equal educational opportunity, and equal job opportunity, and equal economic opportunity in America, then we must also have equal union opportunity in America.
“We are motivated by our moral imperatives but we also are moved toward our goals by practical persuasions. Simply put, we cannot expect more from our younger and women and minority members unless they can expect more leadership opportunity from our federation.
“Brothers and sisters, we don’t have one dues rate for African American, or Hispanic, or Asian Pacific-American members, and another rate for the rest of our members. Our women members don’ t pay lower dues than our male members. We don’t have lower dues for our gay and lesbian and transgender members or for members with disabilities. So why should they get fewer opportunities to lead and to learn?”
Sweeney’s message resonated with the audience, which interrupted his speech about a dozen times with applause and gave him six standing ovations.
UAW Secretary-Treasurer Elizabeth Bunn and former AFT Secretary-Treasurer Nat LaCour, co-chairs of the Executive Council Committee on Diversity, praised Sweeney for his leadership and determination to bring diversity to the union movement.
Atlantic City Casino Workers Authorize Strike
 |
||||
|
||||
Gaming workers at Bally’s and Caesars casinos in Atlantic City voted overwhelmingly over the weekend to authorize a strike if they are unable to reach a contract agreement with management.
The workers have been trying to gain a first contract for two years after voting to form a union with the UAW in 2007.
Says Ed Hendricks, a Caesars slot technician for 15 years:
Nobody wants a strike, but we’re going to stand up to enforce our rights. We have negotiated for almost two years, but instead of reaching an agreement the company keeps cutting back. Harrah’s [owner of both casinos] has cut our 401(k) match, increased our benefit costs and laid off our fellow workers.
Casino Workers Form New Gaming Council
Casino workers from Atlantic City, Las Vegas, Detroit and Connecticut joined together today to carry out a broad organizing, bargaining and communications agenda.
The new Gaming Workers Council, which includes the UAW, Transport Workers (TWU) Gaming Division, the AFL-CIO and SEIU, also will reach out to other partners to support a common agenda on behalf of workers in the casino industry.
The group’s first order of business will be support for ongoing contract campaigns for casino dealers in Atlantic City. Says Sharon Masino, a casino dealer at Caesars in Atlantic City and a member of the UAW/AC Dealers Union:
With everybody joining together, we’ll be stronger than ever. We’re going to win good contracts in Atlantic City and move on to help casino workers all over the country.
Tropicana Dealers Authorize Strike
For 18 months, casino dealers and slot technicians at the Tropicana Casino and Resort in Atlantic City have tried to negotiate their first union contract with management to no avail. Frustrated by management’s stalling tactics and unilateral changes in their health care plan, the workers voted overwhelmingly to strike if they are unable to reach agreement.
Over the weekend, 97 percent of dealers voted to authorize a strike. Earlier last month, 91 percent of the slot technicians also voted to strike if a deal is not reached. More than 800 full- and part-time Tropicana dealers, voted to join the UAW/AC Dealers Union in August 2007.
