Labor unions in Detroit will have a hard time selling the rank and file on their new pact with three Motown casinos. Despite enjoying an upward revenue trend, the casinos appear to be pleading poverty, requiring that workers pay a larger share of health-care costs. By law, the casinos have to report free play as revenue, so — in their defense — the recovery enjoyed by MGM Grand Detroit and Motor City Casino could be smaller than it appears or it could even be nonexistent. (Given the potential PR embarrassment, free-play numbers are kept under wraps.) By the same token, this is the last chance workers will have to get a better collective-bargain agreement before casinos open in Ohio and start siphoning business away from Detroit.
As reported by the Detroit Free Press, the proposed accord is a curiously structured pact. In place of annual salary adjustments, union workers would get signing bonuses in Years One and Three (for a maximum of $3,500) and a $0.30/hour wage bump in Year Four. It’s unclear at first glance why casino management went the signing-bonus route rather than roll than money into an hourly pay raise over the first three years. Maybe the prospect of a lump-sum payment is considered a more compelling inducement. Without knowing the amount of increased premiums and co-pays, it’s impossible to say whether this is just a mediocre deal for the workforce or a bad one. A “george” offer it’s not. The fact that union bosses would ask their membership to ratify it shows how pessimistic they are about getting more from management than this dog’s breakfast.
The increased premiums and co-pays will eventually be more than the bonus amounts and pay increase for each employee. However, as one employee stated “if we don’t want this job, there are thousands who would love to have it”.