NLRB Rules Trump Casino Intimidated Workers Seeking to Join UAW

[Earth Bound Misfit]

http://blog.aflcio.org/2009/02/20/nlrb-rules-trump-casino-intimidated-workers-seeking-to-join-uaw/


Ruling deals casino workers new hand

In May 2007, when some 400 dealers at the Trump Marina Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, N.J., voted on joining the UAW, they already had experienced the full weight of employer harassment.

During the course of the campaign, management suspended Mario Spina, a 20-year veteran casino dealer and union activist. Management had interrogated workers about their support for the union and their organizing activities. Also weighing heavily on their minds that day were threats from Trump Marina managers that they would lose their jobs if they voted for a voice at work with the UAW.

That’s a lot to think about, and on May 11, the fear created by the casino’s anti-union campaign carried over to the balloting, with the result that by only eight votes, 183-175, the workers voted against joining the union.


But now, the workers have another chance to form a union. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ordered a new election Feb. 17 because it found the threats, intimidation and other actions by Trump Marina management violated federal labor law.

The board also ordered the casino to refrain from those unlawful actions in the new election, make up the pay and benefits the suspended longtime casino dealer suffered, and post a notice that says the NLRB found the casino had violated labor law and pledges not to engage in such conduct again. (You can read the full NLRB decision here.)

The NLRB ruling is good news, but it comes nearly two years after workers first sought to join the UAW. Two years in which a contract could have been negotiated and workers could have been pocketing bigger paychecks and enjoying better benefits for their families.

If the Employee Free Choice Act had been law, Spina, the lead union organizer, would not have been suspended on some phony pretext in order to intimidate his co-workers. The NLRB wrote Spina’s suspension caused a fear of reprisal among the voters, some of whom stopped attending union meetings and were watchful of what they said and did regarding the topic of the union or the campaign.

If the Employee Choice Act had been law, the workers would not have been subjected to the interrogations about their union sympathies and support, the threats about losing their jobs and the disciplinary action that the NLRB found the Trump Marina workers were forced to endure.

If the Employee Free Choice Act had been law, the workers could have signed union authorization cards in an atmosphere free of intimidation, threats and harassment. When a majority of workers signed the cards, they would have their union and be ready to bargain for a better life, nearly two years ago.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

1. My best friend in law school

went to work for the NLRB right after graduation. All he ever wanted to be was a labor attorney. He's been there for - oh, jesus, it kills me to realize this - over thirty years. He's head of litigation for the East Coast, and he lives in South Jersey. Yeah, he's also Italian, from South Philadelphia.

We talked about this case over the weekend.

Good one.

[Earth Bound Misfit]

2. I am a casino dealer in AC also

so this story hits close to home. I work @ Bally's Casino, we voted for UAW representation by a %71 percent majority nearly 2 years ago. Not only do we not have a contract, we have not even gotten to the bargaining table, as Harrah's, who owns Bally's has employed every trick in the Unionbusters' book to stall and delay. They filed frivolous objections which nevertheless were required to be investigated, took about six mos for the ALJ to decide they had no merit--of course Harrah's appealed to the Natl Board, another six mos. The Board in DC upheld the ALJ's decision and certified our election win. Harrah's refused to recognize the Union and begin bargaining. When the NLRB filed suit against them, Harrah's had the case moved to an Appellate court in NOLA, using some flim flam argument that since they had properties there, it was an "appropriate" jurisdiction. NOLA Circuit Court of Appeals ruled they had no jurisdiction in this case (surprise!), I believe the case is now being heard in either DC or Philly, not sure which. Anyway....you get the picture.

This is another reason why we need passage of the EFCA. I VOTED in what the RW Zealots like to call a "Free & Fair Secret Ballot" election, and that's when the NLRB Secret Ballot election ceased to be anything even closely resembling a federal election. What has transpired since can hardly be described as "FREE or FAIR". I think it can be better described as "Draconian Exercises in Futility".

The NLRB system is seriously flawed at BEST, and just plain broken at it's worst.

Tell your friend, thanks, we have received favorable decision after favorable decision from the NLRB's Philly Region.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

3. That's his office

Philadelphia. He was really proud of the decision, but also said that they'll keep dicking around and keep dragging it out.

It all goes back to goddamn Reagan and his firing of the air traffic controllers in August of 1981. That was the beginning. Then fucking Frank Lorenzo started union-busting with his airlines, and, after that, the rapid evaporation of the unions' power and significance in our country.

I grew up in a union home, and can never imagine living in a country where unions don't represent the majority of the workers. Harrah's has just begun its tricks, my friend said, and I believe him.

You know, I had always liked the Johnny Sack character on The Sopranos. He was the cool guy I saw so often growing up in an Italin neighborhood. He could have been any of my uncles.

Then, I saw a series of commercials the actor who played Johnny Sacramoni - Vincent Curatola - did for the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace, the anti-union group.

I'm glad his character died such a lousy death, of lung cancer, in the slammer.

I was furious when I saw what Curatola had done. Some people's stupidity just amazes me, even at this point in my life.

Thanks for the summary. It's pretty much what Skip told me - we've been talking about this one for a year - and, as he said, the hijinks are gonna continue.

Break their backs, pal. Best of luck to you, and congratulations on this very significant win.

Never give up.

:toast:

[Earth Bound Misfit]

4. Thanks for the insight

& Good wishes!!

:toast:

[Earth Bound Misfit]

5. Trump Marina dealers to vote again on joining union

Source: Press of Atlantic City
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/106/story/417544.html

ATLANTIC CITY - Dealers at Trump Marina Hotel Casino have another chance to vote for union representation.

A Feb. 17 decision by the National Labor Relations Board upholds a board judge's ruling in July, which initially ordered a second election following a first one that ended in a slim margin. The casino filed an appeal of the ruling, prompting the federal labor board to step in.

The first election in May 2007 ended with the United Auto Workers union losing the chance to become the dealers' bargaining representative by eight votes. The UAW filed an objection with the labor board based on the casino's conduct, claiming employees who wanted to organize were threatened and intimidated.

snip

"We are pleased with this victory for Trump Marina workers," Joe Ashton, a regional director for the UAW, said in a statement Monday. "It's time for Trump Enterprises to stop breaking the law both at Trump Marina and at Trump Plaza, where they continue unlawfully to refuse to bargain."

Dealers at Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino voted to unionize in 2007, although the casino has declined bargaining and is appealing a labor board ruling that it must.

Trump Marina may have the right to challenge the latest order through the U.S. Court of Appeals, said Daniel Halevy, a general attorney for the National Labor Relations Board.

Otherwise, Halevy said, it will be up to the labor board's regional director to gather input from each side and determine when a second election can be held.

"It's too soon to tell if we're going to an election right away," he added.

ETA: Yeah, too soon to tell--They need time to come up with "less illegal" ways to threaten, intimidate & coerce their workers this time around.