Security officers at MGM Springfield to vote on joining union
Springfield MA November 22 2018
Members of the security team at MGM Springfield will vote this month on union representation, claiming the casino has not honored some of its commitments to them.
The 200-some group is a mix of former members of area police departments, correctional officers and military veterans who transitioned into the private sector as well as younger officers who entered the field earlier in their careers. They undergo emergency training, including emergency medical procedures and defensive tactics. The officers are hourly workers who say they are paid less per hour than they were promised.
“There were a lot of things told to us that MGM never fulfilled so we decided to exercise our rights,” said Kevin Frazier, a retired correctional officer who works full-time as a security officer at MGM. “We were told that we were going to be making $18. We were told that if we were trainers, we would receive an extra dollar an hour,” he said, of officers who took additional classes to become certified in training others on staff in CPR and defensive tactics.
Frazier hopes unionizing will lead to higher pay on holidays, weekends and overnight shifts — a significantly busier time than during the day.
“Basically, we were promised money that we never got,” another MGM security officer who requested not to be identified told MassLive. “Since day one that we started working there, we have been inquiring about the raise.
“They don’t pay time-and-a-half on Sundays. Walmart pays time-and-a-half on Sundays.”
MGM Wednesday did not respond specifically to complaints by security workers of pay or that it did not honor some of its commitments to them, but released a statement saying that it supports the right of workers to unionize.
“We believe in the right to join or refrain from joining a union,” MGM Springfield President and COO Michael Mathis said in a statement shared with MassLive. “We are proud of the partnerships we have forged, continuously leveraging our relationships with community-based organizations to promote and assist with job placement and workforce development. It is important for employees to make an informed decision, based on factual information, exercising their right in a secret ballot election.”
The officers will vote Tuesday on a representation proposal from the Law Enforcement Officers Security Union, which has membership in several major cities on the East Coast. The union represents other security workers in Western Massachusetts, including officers at Baystate Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield.
MGM’s Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas is one of few casino security teams to be unionized. The officers joined International Union, Security, Police and Fire Professionals of America and signed a three-year contract with management in 2017. Officers at Excalibur, another property operated by MGM in Las Vegas, rejected a representation proposal from the union last year.
Meanwhile a union official has accused the casino of seeking to prevent officers from organizing.
Security workers told MassLive they have been asked to attend “roundtable discussions” regarding the unionizing effort and speak with management at the casino about the potential ramifications of the vote.
While many in gaming are supportive of workers organizing, there is a concern about security organizing for fear of a strike, LEOSU Organizing Director Steve Maritas said.
“In the casino industry, the security officers are the only officers that have the power to shut down the casino,” Maritas said. “If housekeeping goes on strike, they can continue to operate. The gaming commission will shut the casino down if the security team walks out.”
He added, “That’s why they’re so adamant about the security not being unionized.”
The call to unionize comes as former Springfield Police Sgt. John Delaney announced his retirement as a security executive at MGM Springfield. In March Delaney announced he was retiring from the department to take the job.
masslive.com
