DETROIT – Unionized workers on strike at three Downtown Detroit casinos reached a tentative deal Friday that could end the monthlong picket, but only after the deal is ratified by union members.
The Detroit Casino Council, representing casino workers who are members of multiple union locals, reached a tentative contract agreement with MGM Grand Detroit, MotorCity Casino, and Hollywood Casino at Greektown on Friday, Nov. 17. About 3,700 unionized casino workers went on strike at the downtown casinos on Oct. 17 after their contract expired about without a new agreement to replace it.
UPDATE: Detroit casino workers approve deal at MotorCity, Greektown, but not at MGM Grand
“Our strike showed the casino industry and the world just what Detroit’s casino workers are made of,” said Tavera McCree, a valet cashier at Hollywood Casino at Greektown and member of Teamsters Local 1038. “This is a defining moment for workers in Detroit and nationwide. The gains we have made will change the lives of so many families who are living paycheck to paycheck. I would like to thank everyone who stood strong on the picket line to make this win possible.”
The tentative contract, regarded as “historic” by some union members Friday, is said to include wage increases and benefits that help close the cost-of-living gap that workers say has only widened in recent years. The council said the agreement “includes the largest wage increases ever negotiated in the Detroit casino industry’s 23-year history (including an immediate 18% pay raise on average), no health care cost increases for employees, workload reductions and other job protections, first-ever technology contract language, retirement increases and more.”
A majority of the unionized workers must vote in favor of the deal in order for it to take effect. Officials say the workers will continue striking at the Detroit casinos until the tentative agreement is ratified by union members.
The strike launched as workers were at odds with the companies over healthcare costs and wages, particularly as the business rebounds following pandemic struggles. Union members told Local 4 last month that they didn’t want to strike amid what they called hard times, but feel they needed to be heard.
“The workers are seeking contract improvements after years of pandemic hardship -- including wages that keep up with inflation, healthcare, retirement security, technology language, fair workloads for housekeepers, and more -- but casino management has been unwilling to deliver a fair contract for workers,” union officials said in October.
Company leaders said in October that multiple offers had been made to the council throughout the months of negotiations. Matt Buckley, president and COO of MGM’s Midwest Group, said then that MGM Grand Detroit had offered its “largest pay increase” in the casino’s history.
The council -- which oversees casino workers represented by Unite Here, United Auto Workers, Teamsters, Operating Engineers, and the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters unions -- reportedly reached a tentative five-year contract agreement to end the strike on Nov. 17, 32 days into the casino strike. The Unite Here union’s Local 24 said the tentative agreement is the “best agreement in [the] history of [the] Detroit casino industry.”
Officials said last month the strike was expected to significantly impact the casinos, Detroit and the state of Michigan, putting at risk “approximately $738,000 in city and state tax revenues and $3.4 million in casino operator revenues per day.”
---> How much tax revenue do Detroit casinos generate every year?