A union would be nice for Security Officers (not Guards by the way) and the mere threat of a Union has opened the eyes of upper management at MGM to the important job they perform. Majority of the time, Security is thought of as the bastard step child who is only appreciated when they're needed (Drunk threatening a Pit supervisor or destroying Casino property).

The more important issue that needs to be addressed is the lack of training the officers receive prior to starting or once on the casino floor. VegasM hit it right on the head that there should be two sets officers. One to handle the mundane casino floor duties of table fills and escorts. The other group, trained officers to respond to emergency situations like Heart Attacks (which most large Casinos have EMTs on duty) or crimes against the Casino and Guests.

Our local law enforcement is far to busy to respond to every crime call on the Strip or the local casinos. Having a trained Security Force (which should receive some type of certification through POST or a state run training program) would greatly benefit the strained Police departments that have to respond to Casinos every time they're needed. A Casino Police Force could complete crime reports, cite offenders and handle escalated situations that many untrained security officers may be unable to control. Another benefit will be that it will remove some of the liability from the casinos because the officers were trained by a regulated State Agency and should be protected like Peace Officers now.

If you think that our crime statistics are bad now think of all the incidents that Casino Security handles on a daily basis that never goes reported because the police fail to respond in a reasonable time or the casino guest is from out of town and doesn't want to deal with the hassle of coming back. These crimes are not just run of the mill crimes like being drunk in public or a simple battery. Try burglary, fraud, robbery, Battery with deadly weapon and so on.

A union is a start but it will only be beneficial if it leads to better training or ultimately Casino Police at every property.