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 Indiana Casino Workers Pass Vote to Authorize Strike
Claiming Atlantic City and Las Vegas Casino
Employees Receive Up to $5 more per Hour
with Free Health Coverage

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93% �YES� Vote Gives Negotiating Committee
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
UNITE HERE! Local 1
312-663-4373 x247

Also See: Affordable Family Health Insurance At Center of HERE Local 1's Negotiations with Trump Indiana / June 2002
Indiana State House Amends Dockside Gambling Bill to Require the Riverboats to Reimburse the State for the Cost of Providing Healthcare to Uninsured Casino Workers/ Feb 2002
Gary, Indiana Riverboat Casino Workers Upset with Trump Condo Plan in Chicago / June 2002


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