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Claiming Atlantic City and Las Vegas Casino Employees Receive Up to $5 more per Hour with Free Health Coverage |
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Authority to Call a Walkout if Necessary Gary, IN - September 22, 2004 � Today Northwest Indiana riverboat workers voted overwhelmingly to authorize their negotiating committee to call a strike if necessary to win better wages and affordable family health insurance. Members of UNITE HERE! Local 1 from Harrah�s East Chicago, Trump, Majestic Star, Buffington Harbor Pavilion and the Blue Chip Casino voted 423 to 33 to authorize the negotiating committee to call a strike if necessary. �We�re serious about making a decent wage and getting our kids off welfare,� says Marcia Vaughn, a housekeeper at Harrah�s East Chicago and member of the negotiating committee. �Now I know that my coworkers are willing to strike to get what we deserve.� At the strike vote meeting, Jean Stewart, a casino worker from Atlantic City, reminded riverboat workers that the same companies that operate in Indiana pay workers in Atlantic City and Las Vegas up to $5 more per hour with free family health coverage. Affordable health insurance is a problem for many riverboat workers. A study by Jane Kiser of Indiana University found that out of riverboat workers with children, 17% had no health coverage for their children and 24% had enrolled their children in Hoosier Healthwise, a state-funded welfare program. Riverboat workers also heard from Fred Redmond, an official from District 7 of the United Steelworkers of America, who pledged that his members would honor a picket line at the riverboats. �We supported bringing casinos to Indiana because we were promised good jobs,� said Redmond. �When full-time workers have to go on welfare, the whole community suffers.� |
Contact:
Clare Fauke
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