MotorCity workers approve deal

Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2000 | 9:20 a.m.

Phil Schloop, a spokesman for the labor coalition Detroit Casino Council, said 70 percent of the workers who cast ballots voted to approve what will be their first contract.

Workers at the MGM Grand Detroit casino voted Monday to approve the three-year deal reached Saturday.

Workers at both casinos will get a 35-cents-an-hour pay increase the first year, the greater of 30 cents or 3 percent the second, and the greater of 35 cents or 3 percent the third, Schloop said.

Also, workers at either casino will get raises to match any increase at the other, he said.

The contracts cover nonsalaried workers, who include dealers, food and beverage service staffers, parking valets, maintenance workers and custodians.

"People are going to get decent pay raises and benefit improvements," Schloop said Tuesday night. "In a three-year period of time, they will have one free health care option, which is major improvement for people."

A MotorCity spokesman could not be reached for comment late Tuesday. Mandalay Resort Group of Las Vegas is the casino's majority owner.

The agreement also provides job security protections that were unavailable without a contract, Schloop said, adding that work on future improvements has just begun.

"In any first contract there are issues all employees have that set the stage for the next negotiations," Schloop said. "There's a lot of work to make a labor agreement effective over the three years."

The contracts cover about 4,700 of the more than 5,000 employees at MotorCity and MGM Grand, excluding managers, supervisors and security officers. Security guards agreed on a contract earlier this year.

Last month, more than 90 percent of voting workers at the two casinos authorized bargainers to take whatever action necessary to reach a contract, including a possible strike.

Schloop's council is made up of bargaining units from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 372, the United Auto Workers, the Union of Operating Engineers and the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees union.

The Casino Council also has been organizing workers at the city's 2,400-employee Greektown Casino, which is awaiting state licensing and tentatively scheduled to open Nov. 10.