Employees at the MGM Grand Detroit officially voted to approve the latest contract with their employer, an act that ended a strike that lasted 47 days.
Approval:
Employees at the mentioned casino are members of the Detroit Casino Council union, which formally represents almost 4,000 workers of the city’s 3 casinos. In addition, their December 2nd validation of a 5-year contract occurred weeks following an event in which unionized employees were able to reach the contract with 2 other Detroit casinos after a strike that lasted about a month.
Back to the reason for the strike, issues of wages and health care not covering the expenses of daily living led employees at Hollywood Casino at Greektown, MGM Grand Detroit and MotorCity Casino to abandon their jobs and begin a strike on October 17.
Contract description:
This latest agreement, which affects nearly 1,700 workers, involves an average instant wage increase of 18%, a reduction in workload and no increase in health care costs for workers, the aforementioned Council said. Additionally, union employees involve cleaning staff, personal attendants and dealers.
Commenting on the new contract, a member of Teamsters Local 1038 and a personal attendant at the MGM Grand Detroit, Gabriel Robert Hernandez, commented in a December 2 statement: “We sacrificed a lot during the pandemic, but we fought for and ultimately won a contract that secures our health care and provides significantly improved wages.”
Relatedly, MGM executives commented that the agreement means that day-to-day operations will continue. In this regard, Chairman and COO of Midwest Group, MGM Resorts International, Matt Buckley, commented in the above-mentioned statement dated December 2 according to the Associated Press: “We’re excited to welcome our team back and continue providing our guests the entertainment experiences for which MGM Grand Detroit is known.”
The strike in other 2 casinos has ended:
In other news, around 2,100 workers at MotorCity Casino and Hollywood Casino at Greektown ratified an agreement with employers ending a 34-day strike at the two properties. In addition, approximately 2,100 workers will reportedly receive an instant $3 hourly raise for a total of $5 raise per hour over the course of the contract. Workers at the two casinos will also reportedly benefit from reduced workload, technology protections, and no increases in health care costs.
On that note, in a letter to workers, Buckley said: “All employees were voting on the exact same contract, which the DCC itself said was ‘a historic investment in Detroit’s future’. It’s disappointing that our DCC-represented employees would vote to reject a contract that the overall majority has approved.”