Vol. 3, No. 1, 2007 Page 9
GEOFF THOMAS
ORGANIZER
2007promises to be a very exciting year for our union. We will face many challenges and have great opportunity to grow and it is essential that good contracts be negotiated all around the city.
We must also make long strides in our campaign to organize the workers at Station Casinos. As the leading union in the gaming industry we must take responsibility to organize casinos in the many new venues opening around the country. I had the pleasure to spend the first three weeks of the New Year organizing Harrah’s new Racetrack/Casino or Racino in Chester Pennsylvania, which is just outside Philadelphia. It is an economically depressed area that has seen many of its longtime union jobs shipped overseas. This area desperately needs the type of good jobs that a UNION casino can provide. Harrah’s is the first of nine newly licensed casinos opening in Pennsylvania over the next 2-3 years. Gaming analysts expect that within a few years Pennsylvania will be the third largest gaming venue after Nevada and New Jersey.
On this campaign we had a team of 24 organizers and Shop Stewards on LOA’s from Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Mississippi, and all over Pennsylvania. Our job was to win a card check at Harrah’s for recognition of our union; then to organize the workers and build committees in order to sign strong first contracts that will set a standard that all following owners must meet or exceed.
Making this task more difficult was the fact that two other unions were attempting to organize some of the Harrah’s workers. These are workers in classifications that we represent in all major gaming areas of the country. We needed to convince the workers not so much that they need a union, but that they needed to choose the right union with a powerful track record in the industry and we needed to get this done as quickly as possible to secure recognition and move towards negotiations.
Under the terms of the card check neutrality agreement between Harrah’s and our union we were provided with a complete list and contact information on all bargaining unit employees. Harrah’s also agreed to remain neutral and allow the employees to choose their union without fear of retaliation. This agreement was possible only by the power our union has achieved by years of struggle and victory by our brothers and sisters in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, and Mississippi. After receiving the list our team did an 11 day blitz of house visits to Harrah’s workers. During that time frame, we visited over 320 workers living in 4 states and I am proud to report that we reached a majority status after this first blitz. We also identified almost two dozen potential leaders and held the first two committee meetings. It was really gratifying to see the enthusiasm these new leaders had in rolling up their sleeves and start building their union. It was exciting to see the majority grow as these committee members began to sign up their coworkers in the shop.
There is still much work to be done to recruit and train new leaders and negotiate a contract, but the employees of Harrah’s Chester will have a strong union and set the standard needed for Pennsylvania. Our work with new casino workers is already underway at the second racino at Philadelphia Park and they too will soon have a union contract.
The experience was a great learning opportunity for me; I gained a little something from everyone I had the chance to work with and together we all came back stronger organizers from the campaign. As we get ready to negotiate with Harrah’s this year, they can see more clearly that our strength is nation wide and our commitment to organize gaming workers is a top priority.
If you are in or around Philadelphia check out these new union casinos and let our newest brothers and sisters know we are proud to have them in the UNITE HERE family.