Union agreement reached with two casinos

Monday, Oct. 16, 2000 | 10:59 a.m.

DETROIT -- Four unions representing about 4,700 workers at Detroit's two opened casinos reached a tentative agreement Saturday, one of the gambling halls said. Terms were not disclosed.

Affected workers at the MotorCity Casino and MGM Grand Detroit are to vote within days on what will be their first contract, The Detroit News reported.

Casino executives declined to detail the tentative deal for the nonsalaried workers, who include dealers, food and beverage service staffers, parking valets, maintenance workers and custodians.

Union leaders had agitated for better pay and benefits.

The union-backed workers account for a majority of the more than 5,000 employees at the gambling halls.

"We believe that the offer we have presented is fair and equitable," Scott Snow, MGM Grand Detroit's president and chief operating officer, told the News. "The next step in the process is ratification. We are optimistic."

The unions in the talks were the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 372, the United Auto Workers, the Union of Operating Engineers and the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees union -- known in Las Vegas as the Culinary Union.