Sucking every last $$$$ out.....

Bill Kearney

Massachusetts ‘GAMING’ Future

For those of you questioning why Gov. Christie would appoint someone from the bankrupt city of Detroit to help bailout Atlantic City casinos, here’s why. There are three casinos in Detroit, the MGM Grand, MotorCity and Greektown Casino. Since their inception back in 2000 they have been doing over a billion dollars annually. Now I don’t know about you, but I can’t imagine anyone wanting to casino gamble in Detroit, so I’m figuring most of the money is coming from those who live there or live nearby. Many say the auto industry going south is what caused the city’s demise, but the billions of dollars lost in the casinos by those who live there must have helped.

 

The Associated Press - January 22, 2014 - N.J. Gov. Christie appoints emergency managers for Atlantic City

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Trying to dig Atlantic City out of "an enormous hole," New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Thursday appointed a corporate turnaround specialist as the city's emergency manager, and tabbed the man who led Detroit through its municipal bankruptcy as his assistant.

Corporate finance consultant Kevin Lavin will have broad but still-unspecified powers over Atlantic City's finances and operations. Kevyn Orr, who helped lead Detroit through a financial crisis, will serve as special counsel to Lavin. Christie issued an executive order appointing the men.

Read more: http://www.mcall.com/…/mc-atlantic-city-emergency-managers-…

 

Detroit: Hitching Wagon to Declining Gambling Revenues

Lower casino revenues could mean dwindling jackpot for Detroit

December 21, 2013

By JC Reindl

Detroit Free Press Business Writer

 

The City of Detroit’s financial lifeline for its bankruptcy restructuring — tens of millions in annual taxes from casino gambling — has been faltering as downtown gaming revenue is on pace for its largest annual decline since the first casinos opened in 1999.

Continued creep downward and loss of the tax revenue could mean less money for restructuring Detroit’s city services. Bill Nowling, spokesman for emergency manager Kevyn Orr, said the EM’s office is closely monitoring Detroit’s casino situation.

“If we need to make an adjustment in our (financial) assumptions as a result, we will.”

The fall in business could indicate a shrinking of the casino business market in Detroit and herald fiercer battles for market share of what’s left among the Detroit three — MGM Grand Detroit, MotorCity Casino Hotel and Greektown Casino-Hotel.

■Brian Dickerson:Detroit has gone from being the Motor City to being the Casino City

Gambling revenue this year through November is down 4.3% to $1.2 billion. The state and city split up taxes from the three casinos. Roughly speaking, the state takes about 8% and the city from 10% to 12%, depending on the year and adjusted gross gaming revenue for each casino. The lower the revenue, the lower the tax receipts.

Orr this week called Detroit’s cut — $171 million in 2012 — one of the city’s most important revenue streams, representing about 14% of the total money coming in each year. But it has been sliding, down from $177 million in 2011.

“Without it, the city couldn’t operate,” Orr said Wednesday in bankruptcy court testimony.

Non-gaming revenue from hotel rooms, food sales and other sources at the three casino sites are not part of the equation.

Detroit’s lawyers are hoping to set aside a large portion of the taxes for improving dismal city services, if a federal bankruptcy judge allows a deal to go through that would release the casino tax revenue back to the city. The tax stream was pledged as collateral in 2009 for a massive city debt that came due.

To be sure, with $1.4 billion in total gambling revenues last year, the three casinos are still serious cash-generators and in no danger of closing. Still, their significant drop in revenue could have direct effects on the quality of Detroit’s amenities and resident services as the city aims to emerge from bankruptcy with sustainable finances.

Gambling industry experts and casino operators blame most of the decrease on the four new Ohio casinos, particularly Hollywood Casino Toledo, which let northwest Ohio residents gamble closer to home.

Another factor was the January expiration of the Social Security payroll tax cut, which was worth about $1,000 to a worker making $50,000 a year. The growing proliferation of casino gambling nationwide has also cut into gaming revenues for many regional-draw casinos nationwide such as Detroit’s.

Greater competition

It has been a down year for all three casinos.

Gambling revenues through November were 5.3% lower at MGM Grand than a year ago and 6.7% lower at Greektown, according to the Michigan Gaming Control Board.

MotorCity Casino had the smallest decline at about one-half of 1%. But it also paid for promotions and giveaways: Overall net revenues, which include food and beverage and hotel stays, were down 8% as of June 30, while the casino’s promotional expenses grew, according to figures compiled by BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research.

MotorCity also spent money this year on hundreds of new slot machines and to update the design of its gaming floors to draw in more gaming dollars.

“It’s definitely become more expensive to operate in the Detroit market, which happens whenever competition heats up, as it did with Toledo,” said Jenny Holaday, MotorCity’s senior vice president of operations.

Industry experts say revenues are down in regional-draw casino markets across the country, and especially so in areas such as Michigan and Indiana, where local properties have new competitors.

More casinos on way

There are now nearly 1,000 casinos within 41 states (including tribal lands) with more soon to open when Massachusetts becomes the 42nd state. The Kentucky state Legislature is debating whether to put legalized casinos on the ballot next fall.

Michigan has 22 tribal casinos within its boundaries, with FireKeepers Casino near Battle Creek the closest to Detroit.

New casinos lead to more new casinos. Just as the Windsor casino spurred efforts for Detroit’s casinos, officials often contend that their city or state must build its own casinos in response to neighboring casinos to recapture the gambling dollars (and potential tax revenues) that are flowing across their borders.

But each new property means less potential business for the others.

From an economics standpoint, communities hosting casinos want visitors from as far away as possible so that gambling proceeds are “new” money and not local dollars that would otherwise be spent elsewhere in the community.

“There are many markets where saturation has been reached or is close to being reached,” said Joseph Weinert, executive vice president of New Jersey-based Spectrum Gaming Group. “All things being equal, customers will chose to gamble at the casino closest to their home.”

The shine may already be wearing off Toledo’s new casino, which opened in spring 2012.

The casino’s third-quarter revenue was down 15% from a year earlier to $48.9 million, according to corporate filings by its owner, Penn National Gaming.

Caesars Entertainment does not give financials for Caesars Windsor in its filings, although the gaming company itself reported a $761-million third-quarter loss.

Hotels hurt profits

Insiders say Detroit’s casinos were most profitable in their early years when they operated in temporary facilities and before they took on debt to build large and expensive permanent digs.

Politics played a role in the grandeur and size of the properties, as each one was mandated to have conference space and no fewer than 400 hotel rooms to provide amenities thought to be lacking in the city at the time.

A deal negotiated by former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick got the casinos out of an 800-room requirement in exchange for, among other things, $102 million cash to help balance Detroit’s budget.
“All of them were making a big profit before the permanent facilities, and all of them were in trouble when they went to the large, fancy facilities,” said Jacob Miklojcik, a Lansing-based gaming consultant.

Although none of the casinos discloses hotel occupancy rates, Miklojcik suspects that the 400-room hotel mandate was still too big and wouldn’t have happened if the casinos had a choice. “Some of those are pretty massive costs per key,” he said.

Both MGM Grand and MotorCity opened their temporary locations in 1999 and full properties in 2007 — just in time for the recession.

“The bottom fell out right when everyone’s permanent facilities came online,” said Holaday, the MotorCity executive.

Greektown was the last casino to open, in 2000, and did not transition to its full facility until 2009. It is the smallest property of the three.

Despite shedding $500 million in debt during bankruptcy, Greektown’s finances are still somewhat precarious, and the casino hasn’t reported an operating profit since emerging from Chapter 11 in 2010.

Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert bought Greektown this spring through his casino business, Rock Gaming, which has made management changes and plans “significant” renovations next year to the casino property. Rock Gaming owns two of the four Ohio casinos, in Cleveland and Cincinnati.

In an interview, Rock Gaming CEO Matt Cullen said he doesn’t believe Detroit’s casino market will continue shrinking.

“I don’t think we agree that the size of the pie has gotten smaller and will stay smaller,” Cullen said.

“There are a lot of people still that are rediscovering the city of Detroit and who are coming down here that haven’t come down here for a long time. And there’s still people that don’t come down here.”

http://www.freep.com/article/20131220/NEWS01/312200116

 

Detroit: Bankrupting a City

Bill Kearney

Massachusetts ‘GAMING’ Future

Between the failing American auto industry, the ruthless mortgage bankers, the economy going south, and the introduction of casinos is it any wonder that the city of Detroit is broke.

The MGM Grand casino opened on July 29, 1999, Motor City Casino opened on December 19, 1999, and Greektown casino opened on November 10, 2000. These three casinos revenues totaled $1.4 billion in 2012. Let’s say, conservatively, that in the last 12 years these three casinos took in $10 billion in revenue. How much of that money LOST in the casinos do you think came from the citizens of Detroit?
...
Now I'm no rocket scientist, but with all the economic ill-effects that Detroit been facing, and then you take this kind of money out of its economy, I’m surprise they didn't bankrupt sooner.

CBS News - July 19, 2013 - Detroit's bankruptcy follows decades of decay

Read more: http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2013/07/19/detroits-bankruptcy-follows-decades-of-decay/See More

 

 

 

 

 

Evidence Abounds! Thank you, Rev. J. Peter Swarr!

Episcopals oppose resort casino in Springfield
By Stephanie Barry, The Republican
The Republican
on October 20, 2012





The Rev. J. Peter Swarr, rector of St. Mark's Episcopal Church in East Longmeadow, is shown here after his appointment in 2009. Stephanie Barry, The Republican


SPRINGFIELD - Episcopalians in Springfield formally came out against a casino within the city limits after the 111th Annual Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts on Saturday.

Members unanimously passed a resolution to oppose casino gambling in Massachusetts, but leaders said they recognize the tide has largely turned in favor of casino gaming. The diocese is particularly averse to placing a resort casino in Springfield.

"We don't like any of it. Christians by and large oppose state-sanctioned gambling because of the harm it causes, but we realize that ship has sailed," said the Rev. J. Peter Swarr, rector of St. Mark's Episcopal church in East Longmeadow.

A statewide casino bill has authorized up to three casinos across the state with one slated for Western Massachusetts. Three companies have proposals to develop casinos in Springfield, and a fourth is pursuing a site in Palmer.

Officials of the city that had an unemployment rate of 11.2 percent during the last report have embraced the possibility of a casino within Springfield limits. Proposals include eliminating blighted properties, hiring thousands of workers, linking to key city locations and boosting other businesses and entertainment venues within Springfield.

MGM Resorts is proposing a casino in Springfield's South End, while Penn National Gaming has a site in the North End and Ameristar Casinos Inc. has purchased property off Interstate 291 in East Springfield. The Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority has chosen a site of the Massachusetts Turnpike in Palmer for potential development.

Mayor Domenic J. Sarno termed the three potential players in Springfield as all “world class.” Development proposals are topping $800 million.

Swarr said he spent more than three years at a church in Detroit, where a similar casino scenario played out and boosters pitched the concept as the only economic savior for a floundering city in desperate need of jobs.

"All kinds of places came in and they made wonderful promises, including places like MGM, and if you haven't noticed: Detroit is not the new Las Vegas," Swarr said.

Michigan voters approved a proposal to build casinos in Detroit in 1996 and three cropped up in the city since - Greektown Casino, MGM Grand Detroit and MotorCity Casino, with a fourth a short distance outside Detroit.

The Greektown Casino filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2010 - just about a decade since it first opened its doors. The site has struggled to recover with a new management group.

Swarr said the resort casinos in Detroit offered minimum wage jobs and captured most foot traffic from other local businesses, particularly restaurants, which he said suffered after the casinos opened.

"We see Springfield as a microcosm of what we saw in Detroit," Swarr said. "Casinos don't create wealth. Yeah, they create minimum wage jobs."

And, as people of faith, he said, they believe the potential for gambling addictions and draining of already scant budgets will cause harm in a poverty stricken city.

According to the resolution passed at the convention at Sheraton Springfield Monarch Place Hotel, the diocese is resolved to "educate our members and our communities about the negative impact casinos will have," work to minimize the negative impact, "in particular by opposing a casino in Springfield," and "undertake a period of study, prayer, and conversation around the issue of casino gambling."

Swarr said a diocesan task force will prepare materials, resources and discussion guides for study and prayer around the issue over Lent, which begins 40 days before Easter Sunday.


http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2012/10/episcopals_against_casino_in_s.html

Detroit's Failure

From January 2012 through August 2012, MGM Grand Detroit, MotorCity Casino and Greektown Casino sucked  $960,610,505.19 from the Detroit economy.

In 2011, those facilities removed $1,424,445,461.07 from the local economy.

http://www.michigan.gov/mgcb/0,4620,7-120-1380_57134_57590---,00.html

What is the impact of that level of removal from the failures of Detroit?

Detroit and Michigan come to terms on bailout, averting bankruptcy

After weeks of protest, Detroit's city council agrees to a deal that directs budgetary matters to an outside advisory board, but avoids the sweeping state takeover that many residents opposed.

By Mark Guarino, Staff writer / April 5, 2012

 

 

Nearly bankrupt Detroit has taken the first step down what is likely to be a long road to solvency, agreeing to strict state oversight but averting a full-blown takeover of its finances. But Michigan has promised no bailout money, and Detroit will be subjected to more stringent review than is customary for floundering cities, as it grapples with how to meet $12 billion in pension and benefit obligations and how to close a $200 million budget deficit.

 

In a vote late Wednesday, the Detroit city council approved, 5 to 4, a consent agreement with the state that permits tough, outside fiscal oversight from an advisory board. If the council had failed to act, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) could have appointed an emergency manager, which would have stripped both the mayor and the city council of control of all financial matters.

Compared with similar agreements between state authorities and cities that faced bankruptcy, such as Philadelphia, New York City, and Washington, the deal worked out between Michigan and Detroit gives greater authority to the state should city officials fail to execute changes or fail to meet budgetary deadlines. For example, should Detroit violate certain parts of the agreement, powers of both its executive and legislative branches could shift to the newly appointed chief financial officer and chief operating officer, and the state could withhold state aid or appoint an emergency manager.

 

Detroit’s agreement is more stringent than those in other financially strapped cities “given the history of corruption and mismanagement that has been very well documented at this point” in Detroit, says Eric Scorsone, a professor of economics at Michigan State University in East Lansing.

However, Mr. Scorsone says the consent agreement fails to specify how to ease the city’s long-term cost burdens, such as its retirement obligations. Also problematic: The agreement does not define the criteria for success in renegotiating union contracts of public employees.

“There are a lot of pitfalls here," he adds. "The state was trying to be creative and compromise, but in a way, it made life a little more difficult potentially."

 

Michigan State Treasurer Andy Dillon said late Wednesday that it is likely to be five years or more until the city sees a turnaround. “The city didn’t get here overnight, so it’s going to take awhile to get it back on its feet,” he said.

 

In earlier drafts of the agreement, Detroit's city council had requested state funds to help ease its crushing pension obligations, as well as its $200 million budget deficit.The current agreement does not include a cash infusion, although Mr. Dillon said the governor is willing to direct money to Detroit “if he sees progress.”

“At some point we’ll want to invest in the city,” he added.

Detroit Deputy Mayor Kirk Lewis praised the vote, calling it “a pivotal moment in Detroit’s history” for beginning “the monumental task of stabilizing Detroit’s financial operations.”

“This agreement also ensures the future of Detroit is determined by Detroiters and its elected officials,” he said in a statement.

The new agreement calls for the formation of a nine-member advisory board, which will impose state oversight over the city’s financial restructuring. The new chief operating officer and chief financial officer report to the mayor and carry out the board directives. Governor Snyder will appoint three members, Detroit Mayor Dave Bing and the city council will appoint two each. The city and state will jointly approve one board member; the state treasurer will appoint one.

The prospect that the state would assess the city's financial health prompted heated public meetings and protest against a state takeover. In public hearings and during outside street demonstrations, many residents accused the state of a power grab. Because Detroit is a majority black population, many of the criticisms invoked racial overtones, with many accusing city council members of being traitorous if they voted for any state oversight.

Isaiah Thomas, a member of the state review board tasked with negotiating with the city, said the protests hurled at the board were expected and even warranted.

“That’s America. That’s what we do. We have that right to do so, so those people who yelled and screamed at us, that’s America,” he told reporters late Wednesday.

As negotiations moved forward in late March, Mayor Bing has been in and out of the hospital following surgery. On Wednesday he returned to the Henry Ford Hospital, where doctors say he is expected to make a full recovery.

 

 

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2012/0405/Detroit-and-Michigan-come-to-terms-on-bailout-averting-bankruptcy

Michigan: Ignoring evidence

Ignoring the evidence of community destruction Predatory Gambling has created, what's the mindless solution?

Expand!

August 7, 2012

Michigan casino amendment opponents defend 1996 gambling law

• By Chad Livengood
• Detroit News Lansing Bureau

Lansing— A Michigan Court of Appeals panel heard arguments Monday in a first-of-its-kind lawsuit challenging whether a proposed constitutional amendment to allow casino expansion can override a voter-initiated gambling law.

Detroit's three casinos and three tribal casino operators are challenging a ballot proposal funded by private casino investors seeking voter approval for eight specific addresses to be written into the constitution, affording the property owners the constitutional right to run gambling halls and serve alcohol.

Protect MI Vote, the casinos opposition group, contends the proposal is unconstitutional because it seeks to wipe out parts of the 1996 voter-initiated Michigan Gaming Control & Revenue Act. One section of the state Constitution says only the Legislature can amend a voter-initiated statute by a three-fourths majority.

Citizens for More Michigan Jobs is one of six groups that have collected more than enough signatures to qualify for a spot on the Nov. 6 ballot. But like the other proposals, the group seeking new casinos in Birch Run, Clinton Township, Clam Lake (near Cadillac), Detroit, DeWitt Township, Grand Rapids, Pontiac and Romulus is being challenged in court before election officials set the ballot.

The initiative could "substantially rewrite" the 1996 gambling regulations voters approved by increasing the wagering tax rate for the MotorCity, MGM Grand and Greektown casinos from 19 percent to 23 percent, and eliminating a 1.25 percent tax the three Detroit casinos pay to the city for extra police, fire and municipal services, said Peter Ellsworth, attorney for Protect MI Vote.

"Voters have no notice of what they passed in 1996 is being changed here," Ellsworth said at Monday's hearing.

"It purports to be a constitutional amendment, but in fact it rewrites a statute."

Graham Crabtree, attorney for the pro-casino expansion group, said the proposed constitutional amendment, if approved by voters, would suspend the gaming control law "solely by the fact the constitution trumps the statute."

"The statute doesn't go away. It's still there," Crabtree said after the hearing.

Project MI Vote was listed on court documents under the name Protect MI Constitution, an entity setup separate from the Project MI Vote ballot committee to handle the court challenge, according to the group. Ellsworth disclosed the names of the casino operators funding the legal challenge, which include Native American tribe-owned casinos near Marshall, Mount Pleasant and New Buffalo.

If the casino question does get on the ballot, the campaign for and against expanding gambling in Michigan is expected to be one of the most expensive races this fall. Citizens for More Michigan Jobs reported spending $2.7 million through July 20 gathering more than 500,000 signatures and promoting the initiative, campaign finance records show. Protect MI Vote reported receiving more than $445,000 in cash and in-kind contributions to fight the signature-gathering, leaving the opposition group with nearly $112,000 in the bank in late July, records show.

From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120807/POLITICS02/208070354#ixzz22rWuStY7

Man Goes On Casino Bender

Man Goes On Casino Bender After An ATM Let Him Take Out Unlimited Cash

Zachry Floro|Jun. 14, 2012

Local 4 News Detroit

Ronald Page thought he'd hit the jackpot when a glitchy ATM at a Detroit casino allowed him to make unlimited withdrawals, reports Detroit's Local 10 News.

With unlimited funds at his fingertips, police say Page went on a gambling bender, hitting up at least three casinos, including the MGM Grand and Motor City.

By the time his bank, Bank of America, figured out what was happening, he had reportedly withdrawn and gambled away $1.5 million.

Now that his luck has run out, Page has been convicted of theft of bank funds totaling $1.5 million and faces up to 15 months in prison, according to Local 10. He's due for sentencing on June 27.
Cases like Page's aren't entirely unheard of.

Back in 2008, a University of Missouri ATM started spitting out $20 bills instead of $10 bills. A line of students waiting to cash in on the "free money" wrapped all the way to the door, a student told the school's newspaper.

Mark Henricks of Bankrate.com spoke with representatives from Diebold, a leading manufacturer of ATMs, who told him mistakes on ATMs are rare but can usually be traced back to a human error. Another major cause is not keeping up with proper maintenance on the machine.


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/atm-gives-unlimited-cash-2012-6#ixzz1xsvi3msI

Detroit Casino Union Workers Take Cuts

MGM workers approve contract
Contract gives larger bonus but may hike health care costs
Jaclyn Trop/ The Detroit News

MGM Grand Detroit workers approved a new four-year contract with the casino Friday night after overwhelmingly rejecting a proposed agreement last week.

The workers ratified the contract with 73 percent voting "yes," Teamsters Local 372 spokesman Shawn Ellis said in an email.

For two days, workers at Detroit's largest casino have debated the new proposal, including on the Facebook page of UAW Local 7777, which represents dealers and slot technicians. At least two employees said online that the proposal should be approved, while others argued that the second contract is no better than the one they voted down.

MGM and the five-union Detroit Casino Council — which includes UNITE HERE and Teamsters Local 372 — reached the agreement Wednesday. The new contract, which covers more than 2,000 employees, gives workers a larger bonus payout but imposes potentially higher health care costs on many employees, workers said on the UAW Facebook page.

The proposal includes a total of $4,000 in bonuses and a 2 percent raise in the final year of the contract. A health care deductible of $250 per person and $500 per family from the rejected contract proposal has been eliminated, but monthly health care premium payments are higher.

MGM workers overwhelmingly rejected the prior four-year proposal that included $3,500 in bonuses and a 2 percent raise in the final year. It also called for increased employee contributions for health care, including a higher co-payment for emergency room care that some argued would cost more than the bonuses and raise.

Contracts with the Greektown Casino Hotel and the MotorCity Casino Hotel earlier were each approved by at least 70 percent of their unionized workers.

While some MGM workers argue that the casino makes enough money to afford a richer contract, Michigan gaming consultant Jake Miklojcik, a former Greektown board member, has contended MGM and the other two casinos are being weighed down by the debt they incurred by building new required casinos and hotels.

There has never been a strike at Detroit's casinos since they began opening in 1999.

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.