Casino news source: Asbury Park Press - http://www.app.com/
Trump casino dealers reject unionization bid
Vote won't deter union, officials say
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 05/13/07
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ATLANTIC CITY — Dealers at Trump Marina Hotel Casino narrowly rejected a bid to unionize, union representatives said Saturday.
The dealers voted 183-175 on Friday against joining the United Auto Workers, union representatives said. But they vowed to press on with efforts to organize at other casinos in the city.
"We won't let this one vote deter us from moving forward and helping dealers who want to form a union and gain a voice in the decisions that affect their lives and their families," Joe Ashton, who directs the UAW region covering New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, said in a statement.
UAW Secretary-Treasurer Elizabeth Bunn noted that "a substantial majority" of Trump Marina dealers had signed union authorization cards before the vote, and she suggested managers had conducted "a campaign of fear and intimidation."
Trump Marina games shift manager Ray Perri denied that and said the casino was pleased with the outcome of the vote.
"Trump Marina won tonight," Perri said early Saturday. "The dealers at Trump Marina do not want representation from the UAW, and as management, we're happy that that happened, and we all want to work together to make a better, unified place."
The Trump Marina vote came amid a drive to unionize all 11 of the city's casinos. Workers at Bally's Atlantic City will conduct a similar vote June 2, and dealers at the Atlantic City Hilton Casino Resort have filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board seeking a similar vote.
So far, workers at five Atlantic City casinos have either voted to join the union or asked for an election to determine whether to do so.
In March, dealers at Caesars Atlantic City and Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino voted overwhelmingly to unionize.
Trump Entertainment Resorts, the parent company of three Atlantic City casinos that bear Donald Trump's name, is challenging the results of the Trump Plaza election. The company alleges the process was improperly influenced by a pro-union rally held a few days before the vote.
The UAW already represents dealers at three Detroit gambling halls: MGM Grand Detroit Casino, MotorCity Casino and Greektown Casino.
And on June 3, a vote will be held by 230 full and part-time security workers at Bally's on whether they wish to join the International Union of Security, Police and Fire Professionals of America.
Several casino executives said they expect the next gambling hall to be targeted by the union will be the Tropicana Casino Resort, where new ownership has laid off hundreds of employees since January.
The union has declined to say whether the Tropicana will be its next target. |
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