Doe MGM hold the high card against the Joint Board? (WMP&I)

One year ago this month, the New England Joint Board of UNITE HERE won the right to represent dealers at MGM Springfield. As of today, however, the NEJB and MGM are not any closer to an agreement for a simple reason. MGM declines to recognize the election the National Labor Relations Board held, certified and has upheld through its regional office twice.

Unions have had a presence at MGM Springfield since it opened. A Teamsters local and the NEJB, an umbrella organization of UNITE HERE locals, have repped much of MGM’s non-gaming employees since the beginning. However, management showed surprising resistance to its dealers’ union drive before last year’s election. This did not abate with the NEJB’s win, pushing MGM into legally dubious territory.

“We’re starting to tell this story to more people within the city,” said Ethan Snow, the NEJB’s Secretary-Treasurer. “MGM is breaking the law”

As companies go, MGM Resorts International, the parent company of MGM Springfield, does not have a reputation as especially antagonistic to unions. The Las Vegas-based company owns prominent properties on the Strip in Sin City, many of which have unions. Nevada became a labor stronghold despite its laws that let employees enjoy union services without paying for them.

In Springfield, that reputation prevailed when MGM put up little fight to hospitality and warehouse workers joining the NEJB and Teamsters, Local 404.

The resistance firmed up when NEJB moved to organize the dealers. The vote was a close 130-117. The union accused MGM of intimidating employees. After the vote, MGM insisted union staff engaged in misconduct during the election. The casino said it would not bargain until the issue was resolved.

“We support employees’ rights to bargain collectively and have a productive working relationship with organized labor at properties throughout the country,” an MGM Springfield spokesperson told WMP&I. “In this instance, we believe a small number of union representatives engaged in misconduct that interfered with employee choice and made a free and fair election impossible.”

MGM Resorts International owns many unionized facilities in Vegas. (via Wikipedia)

MGM Resorts Int’l, when contacted directly, did not respond to a request for comment.

To the NEJB, MGM’s posture is little more than stonewalling.

According to NLRB records, MGM filed objections to the election on March 15 last year. A formal request for review arrived on April 26. In short, MGM accused the NEJB’s observer of calling voting employees in the polling place, improper electioneering and voter intimidation. Among the claims was that the union observer speaking Spanish to employees—which MGM’s non-Spanish speaking witnesses heard—was improper. A hearing officer issued a report on August 9 that dismissed the objections.

“Any delay of this process is advantageous to the company,” Snow said. “They don’t have to deal with us until we’re certified.”

MGM appealed to the regional director, who upheld the hearing officer’s findings on September 23. That day, over six months after the vote, the NEJB received certification as the exclusive bargaining agent for the dealers.

Although the election is official, MGM can still seek review from the full NLRB. It filed its request for review in October, largely challenging the determinations local NLRB staff had made.

The preceding events all occurred before the presidential election in November. Despite some sound and fury about a less antagonist approach to labor, Donald Trump moved to kneecap the NLRB by firing one of its members. That left it with only two voting members out of five—not enough for a quorum. A Washington judge overturned the dismissal. However, the Supreme Court could overturn the New Deal-era precedent that underpinned that Board member’s reinstatement

An NLRB spokesperson confirmed MGM’s request for review is pending before the full Board. For now, however, the certification of the NEJB still stands and it has sought to begin bargaining with MGM. Yet, Snow said the company has not budged.

The Joint Board doesn’t understand why MGM is afraid of bargaining. (created via MGM Studios/MGM Resorts images)

Rather, Snow said MGM has enforced rules strictly, fired union supporters and unilaterally changed work rules. The NEJB has filed charges against MGM Springfield alleging these violations as well as coercive actions like threats and surveillance. The union also claims the company has violated employees Weingarten rights, or their right to have union representatives present in any meeting with management that could result in discipline.

The NEJB’s charges are being investigated by regional staff of the NLRB. However, with the full Board potentially facing paralysis—and tools to enforce rulings limited under the best of circumstances—the union is looking to raise visibility of the issue.

The Western Massachusetts Area Labor Federation (WMALF), the local branch of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, held its breakfast at MGM on April 14. Labor took the opportunity to highlight the dealers’ situation.

Jeff Jones, the WMALF’s president, said the dealers and their union were featured in the breakfast’s program. He noted the informational picket that occurred during the breakfast. Hyperlocal news site Patch reported that employees were handing out leaflets accusing MGM of causing delays and spending money on lawyers rather than negotiating on wages and benefits.

“We convened our breakfast there because the building was 100% Union built (on time and under cost) and because the other workers there are represented by other Unions including NEJB,” Jones told WMP&I. “Thus we do not fully understand why MGM is refusing to recognize these workers while recognizing all the others.”

Jones said union members called on city leaders to put pressure on MGM to do the right thing.

Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno’s office did not respond to a request for comment. City Council President Michael Fenton, who previously led the body’s casino oversight committee, declined to comment before his pending meetings with the union and MGM.

Who is the one-armed bandit in this workplace dispute? (WMP&I)

While MGM Springfield’s gaming employees did not unionize early, table game employees are in unions elsewhere in the country. UNITE HERE represent few, if any, gaming employees, but other unions do. For example, the United Autoworkers represents gaming employees from Las Vegas to Atlantic City. The UAW did not respond to a request for comment.

Then there are the persistent rumors that MGM Resorts Int’l may unload MGM Springfield onto another gaming company. The NEJB’s Snow found that an unsatisfying explanation for MGM’s resistance.

In addition to any new operator needing to accept or renegotiate the host community agreement with the city, Snow noted MGM Springfield is all but wall-to-wall unions, excluding gaming staff. The dealers may be central to the casino’s income, but they are only a quarter of the facility’s employee headcount.

“Is that really going to make or break a deal with a gaming operator who’s going to come in and try to buy the casino? I’m not sure,” he said.