MGM Grand Detroit casino workers reject contract

MGM Grand Detroit casino workers reject contract
BY MATT HELMS
DETROIT FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

Workers at MGM Grand Detroit casino rejected a labor deal Thursday that would have raised employee health care costs and provided a raise of 30 cents an hour in the fourth year of the contract, a union official said.

The vote was decisive: nearly 1,500 against the contract, compared with about 300 supporting it, said a card dealer for MGM Grand who asked not to be identified because he did not have authorization to speak on the unions' behalf.

Shawn Ellis, a spokesman for Teamsters Local 372, one of five unions representing workers at Detroit's three casinos, wouldn't confirm the vote tally but said the contract was rejected overwhelmingly.

Earlier this week, workers at MotorCity Casino Hotel and Greektown Casino-Hotel approved contracts by wide margins. Ellis said the rejection by MGM workers wouldn't impact deals reached with workers at the other casinos.

About 6,000 casino workers in Detroit are represented by the Teamsters, UNITE HERE Local 24, UAW Local 7777, Operating Engineers Local 324 and the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters.

Ellis said the Detroit Casino Council, which bargained jointly for the five unions, would notify a mediator of the rejection, but he declined to comment further. The council had urged members to approve the deal.

The unions said informational picketing will begin Saturday, and they expect both sides will return to bargaining, with no immediate impact on operations at the city's largest casino.

An MGM spokeswoman said Thursday night that the casino would operate under terms of an extended agreement with the unions.

The unions had threatened to strike without a contract agreement, a move that likely would have shut the casinos, given requirements to have workers trained and licensed by state regulators.

The MGM card dealer who spoke with the Free Press said workers were upset they would have to give concessions despite profits at the casino -- said to be a high-performer for MGM Resorts, as the Detroit casino market fared better than other regions in the recession.

Analysts say the Detroit casinos borrowed heavily to build permanent locations with 400-room hotels and that debt was part of the reason Greektown filed for bankruptcy in 2008.

The MGM dealer said most workers would have paid more for health care than they would gain with a small raise the last year of the contract and signing bonuses of up to $2,500 upon ratification and another $1,000 in the third year.

Unionized worker health care premiums would rise and deductibles would be imposed for the first time.