Detroit casino workers to vote on potential strike

The five local unions could authorize and declare a strike around mid-October near the expiration of current employees’ contracts.

Union Workers at Detroit’s three casinos – MGM Grand Detroit, MotorCity Casino Hotel and Hollywood Casino at Greektown, are voting today on whether to authorize a strike coinciding with the expiration of employees’ labor contracts next month.

Local union workers in Las Vegas recently voted 95% in favor of a strike, too, though no date for the action has been officially set. 

Currently 18,300 United Auto Workers (UAW) members are already on strike in Michigan, as well as in 20 other states. A further 1,000 UAW members who work with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan are also on strike.  

The affected employees’ current contracts are a three-year extension to a five-year contract that began in 2015.

If a strike is authorized by today’s vote, the Negotiating Committee of the Detroit Casino Council could mobilize one around mid-October.

According to local reports, the Detroit Casino Council is composed of five unions: Unite Here Local 24, UAW, Teamsters Local 1038, Operating Engineers Local 324 and the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters. The priority in all unions’ negotiations is aiming for increased wages commensurate with the increased cost of living.

Recently in Michigan, the Michigan Gaming Control Board and Attorney General also seized and destroyed several unlicensed gaming machines with heavy machinery, in an effort to ensure that neither the devices, nor any of their parts, can be resold.

Stephanie Feeley

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