10 • June 16, 2022 - June 22, 2022
THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS
Union Matters Union to vote on authorizing Atlantic City casino strike By WAYNE PARRY Associated Press ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP)—Atlantic City’s main casino workers union will vote Wednesday on whether to authorize a strike against the city’s casinos, with whom they have yet to reach new contract agreements. Local 54 of the Unite Here union says its members will decide whether union leadership can call a strike against any or all of the nine casinos. Contracts with the casinos expired nearly two weeks ago, and talks have yet to produce a new agreement. “We’ve been saying for some time now that casino workers need a real raise,” Unite Here Local 54 Union President Bob McDevitt said. “We’re two weeks past our contract expiration, and we’ll continue to try to get there with the companies, but we’re taking a vote this week to put in the hands of the negotiating committee the power Members of Local 54 of the Unite Here casino workers union picket outside the Tropicana casino in Atlantic City to call a strike, if necessary.” N.J. on June 1, 2022 after contracts expired. On Wednesday June 15 the union's members will vote on whether No target date for a potential to authorize their leaders to call a strike if new contracts are not reached soon. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry) walkout has been set, but an obvious date would be the July 4 holA “yes” vote will not result in an casinos, the power to call a strike if as they negotiate with the union, iday weekend, which is crucial to immediate strike. It simply gives and when they see fit. which says it is seeking “signifithe casinos’ business plans as one the union’s negotiating committee, But it would be likely to in- cant” wage increases in the next of the busiest times of the year. comprised of workers from all nine crease pressure on the casinos contract to help workers deal
with financial setbacks caused by the coronavirus pandemic and rapidly rising prices. The labor dispute comes at an uncertain time in Atlantic City: the casinos and their online partners are collectively making more money now than before the pandemic hit. But the casinos say those statistics are misleading because they get to keep only about 30% of online and sports betting money, with the rest going to their thirdparty partners. They say that in-person revenue won from gamblers is the crucial metric, and not all the casinos have surpassed their pre-pandemic levels. The union went on strike in 2004 for 34 days, and walked out against the former Trump Taj Mahal casino in July 2016, which ended with the casino shutting down in October of that year. It has since reopened under different ownership as the Hard Rock. So far, the union has secured agreements with the Ocean Casino Resort and Bally’s to honor the terms of contracts eventually reached with some of the larger casino companies in town, but no contracts have yet been agreed upon.
Workers vote to become first unionized Starbucks in Alabama Associated Press Starbucks has until later this week to file any objections with the National Labor Relations Board after workers at a shop in Birmingham became the first of the company’s locations in Alabama to vote to organize. Baristas and other employees at a downtown store voted 27-1 to organize in a tally announced Thursday, news outlets reported. Documents show they would be represented by Workers United if the vote stands. Company officials didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment on whether Starbucks would challenge the vote—the latest in a series of wins for labor at Starbucks stores across the nation. The employees had the backing of Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin, who publicly
(Bill Moore photo)
expressed his solidarity with the workers. Employees who supported the union complained about a lack of respect from management. Alex Buford, a Starbucks employee for three years who transferred to the store six months ago, also cited racial discrimination as a problem. “There’s a lot of racial issues that we’ve been dealing with, managers purposely cutting our hours, attacking us for no reason,” she told al.com. “A lot of us have complained and the managers, they’re just not hearing us out, or they’re not really listening to us, or they say they’re listening but they’re not really listening.” A Starbucks in Buffalo, New York, became the first in the United States to unionize late last year. Based in Seattle, the company has more than 34,000 stores worldwide.
