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Foxwoods lists claims of union misdeeds |
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Written by Administrator
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Wednesday, 18 August 2010 |
Foxwoods lists claims of union misdeeds
By JAMES MOSHER
Norwich Bulletin
Posted Aug 17, 2010
Mashantucket, Conn. — Foxwoods Resort Casino on Monday submitted documents supporting its claims of misconduct by union agents in an election last month. An investigation has begun, officials say.
The filing was made with the National Labor Relations Board’s Hartford office, said John Cotter, one of the office’s administrators. The casino had until Monday to support an objection it filed a week earlier regarding actions of United Food and Commercial Workers union representatives involved in a July 31 vote by beverage department workers.
“The investigation is proceeding,” Cotter said Tuesday.
Foxwoods says union representatives made false and racially charged appeals in order to sway bartenders, drink servers and others. The Indian-owned casino also objected to the NLRB’s supervision of the election in which workers approved the union by a 190-to-145 vote.
Foxwoods holds that tribal law, not U.S. law, should govern union matters.
Tom Wilkinson, secretary/treasurer for Westport-based UFCW Local 371, couldn’t be reached Tuesday for comment. Wilkinson has taken over the Foxwoods case since the death of President Brian Petronella earlier this month.
Foxwoods spokeswoman Lori Potter had no immediate comment Tuesday.
An MGM Grand at Foxwoods dealer is concerned his beverage department colleagues will suffer the same financial fate as MGM dealers. Those dealers have lost nearly $10 per hour in tips income because of a clause in a United Auto Workers union contract that equalizes “toke” rates of MGM and regular Foxwoods Resort Casino dealers.
“It used to be a happy place to work,” said MGM dealer Darin Tourville, who lives in Norwich. “Morale has gone down considerably. Our incentives have disappeared.”
Almost all of MGM’s 300 dealers voted against affiliating with the UAW, but their votes were diluted by wide support for the union among the 2,500 lower-paid regular Foxwoods dealers, Tourville said. MGM employees who bought homes based upon the income of the higher-end casino are now struggling, he said.
“I left Mohegan Sun for MGM because I wanted a better life,” said Tourville, who grew up in Ledyard. “Now I’m going backwards. Most of the people I work with feel the same way.”
http://www.norwichbulletin.com/news/x279155174/Foxwoods-lists-claims-of-union-misdeeds
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