March 20, 2018

By Stephanie West

Mashantucket, Conn. Unite Here is seeking to represent more than 300 employees of Foxwoods’. This division of the Foxwood workforce is responsible for cleaning the casino and these employees have filed a petition to unionize. Since workers at Foxwood had concerns regarding pay and several other non-salary issues, they decided to contact Unite Here.

These workers are responsible to maintain a 9-million-square-foot casino, cleaning which includes 30 restaurants, 100 retail stores, two theaters, six casino public bathrooms, executive offices, seven outside tribally-owned properties, the exterior of all buildings and much more.

Under Mashantucket Pequot tribal law, more than 30 percent of the employees eligible to form a bargaining unit must sign authorization cards to petition for an election. In the election, the union is recognized if a majority of voters are in favor oc unionizing. The Mashantuckets enacted their labor law nearly a decade ago. Presently their employees are members of several unions including UAW, IUOE, and UFCW.

The New England Joint Board of Unite Here represents about 10,000 workers throughout New England and New York