Workers at Detroit’s Casinos are Voting to Authorize Potential Strikes

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 28, 2023
Contact: Tiffany Ten Eyck, 313-515-1807, [email protected]

Workers at Detroit’s MGM Grand Detroit, MotorCity Casino, and Hollywood at Greektown, will cast ballots on whether to authorize strikes as they negotiate new union contracts

Detroit, MI—As more UAW autoworkers join picket lines, another group of workers from the Motor City is taking the first step towards potential strikes. On Friday, the workers who staff the majority of the operations at Detroit’s three casinos—including the slots and table games on the gaming floors as well as restaurants, bars, retail outlets, hotels, cleaning, maintenance and more—are holding a vote that, if passed, could pave the way for potential strikes at the casinos. Workers have been in negotiations with the casinos since early September. Their top priority is winning wage increases to keep up with the rising cost of living.

Following COVID shutdowns, Detroit casino workers sacrificed raises and shouldered heavier workloads so the industry could recover. Now, workers are struggling to make ends meet, even as the industry generates all-time record high gaming revenues from in-person and online gaming.

Should workers authorize a strike in Friday’s vote, the worker Negotiating Committee of the Detroit Casino Council (DCC) could call for strikes as soon as mid-October, when contracts expire. The DCC is comprised of 5 unions that represent workers at the three casinos: UNITE HERE Local 24, the UAW, Teamsters Local 1038, Operating Engineers Local 324, and the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters. Together the DCC partner unions collaborate to negotiate with the three casinos.

Members of the DCC worker negotiating committee and union officials are available for interviews. Please contact to coordinate. The results will be released after ballots are counted after voting ends at 9:00pm.

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The Detroit Casino Council (DCC) is UNITE HERE Local 24, the UAW, Teamsters Local 1038, Operating Engineers Local 324, and the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters. These five unions represent most of the workers at the three casinos in Detroit: Hollywood Casino at Greektown, MGM Grand Detroit, and MotorCity Casino. Our members work in food and beverage, housekeeping, retail outlets, slots and table games, engineering and more. The DCC partner unions are part of International Unions that have experience representing gaming workers and winning great contracts throughout the United States including Las Vegas and Atlantic City.