Hundreds of maintenance and cleaning staff at Foxwoods Resort Casino will vote later this month on whether to be represented by a Boston-based union.
The New England Joint Board of Unite Here said Wednesday it collected nearly 300 signatures from employees of Foxwoods’ environmental services department, which clean much of the casino, excluding hotel rooms.
ESD workers are scheduled to vote on securing Unite Here for union representation in an election on Friday, April 20. The election will be conducted under the guidance of the Mashantucket Employment Rights Office.
Unite Here, a union representing hospitality and gaming workers in New England, said it began working with Foxwoods’ ESD workers over a year ago. ESD workers said Unite Here positions the group to be heard regarding concerns for job security and fair wage increases.
Meanwhile, the union says workers have endured months of anti-union campaigning from Foxwoods’ management. ESD workers last month testified about their displeasure with the casino’s anti-union actions at a legislative hearing before the General Assembly.
The workers’ testimony backed proposed legislation, under House Bill 5473, calling to outlaw the use of “captive audience meetings,” which allow employers to require one-on-one meetings. Workers said they have been “compelled” to meet with supervisors and subjected to interrogation about their union support.
Unite Here said three union supporters at Foxwoods were suspended over the last month.
A Foxwoods’ spokeswoman on Thursday declined comment when asked to respond to accusations of anti-union campaigning from the casino’s management.
The group would become Foxwoods’ fifth union-represented department at the resort.
Unite Here said the majority immigrant workforce cites the threat of outsourcing as a chief complaint in its effort to unionize. ESD workers become fearful last year when a third-party vendor secured kitchen work for the casino, which resulted in dramatic benefit changes.