Caesars Palace Casino Dealers Vote to Join UAW Labor Union

Caesars Palace table game dealers move to unionize with the UAW a week after workers at its sister properties approved the move

Nearly 550 casino dealers at Caesars Palace voted Saturday to unionize with the UAW, the major Detroit-based labor union representing workers from different industries across the United States and Canada.

The Caesars Palace unionization decision was made after a 371-12 vote in favor of the move. The overwhelming support at the major Las Vegas casino resort came after more than 1,470 dealers at Caesars-owned Bally’s Harrah’s, Paris, and Wynn Resorts’ Las Vegas casinos voted last week to join the union that represents around 400,000 active workers in different industries.

With Caesars Palace dealers becoming members of the union, the UAW has welcomed more than 2,000 Las Vegas casino floor employees over the past two weeks. Commenting on the Saturday vote, union President Gary Jones said that they were thrilled to have Caesars Palace “vote to be allowed to join what are now over 10,000 casino workers in the UAW.”

The flagship property of gaming and hospitality giant Caesars Entertainment Corp. opened doors more than five decades ago on the west side of the legendary Las Vegas Strip. Caesars Palace is one of the largest properties in that part of Las Vegas with a variety of spacious facilities, including its nearly 125,000-square-foot casino floor.

Commenting on Saturday’s vote, Vance Pearson, Director of UAW Region 5, said in a release that they welcome the new union members and “look forward to getting down to business and bargaining great contracts.”

Voting to “Have a Real Voice”

As mentioned above, the unionization effort was supported overwhelmingly by casino dealers at Caesars Palace. Caesars employee Brian Bixby said Saturday that he voted in favor of “job protection, wages, benefits, working conditions and to have a real voice in [his] workplace.”

Another worker at the Strip casino added that there “is an immense benefit to not being just one employee with just one voice.”

The recent Las Vegas votes continued a strong growth trend for the UAW over the past several years. The labor union welcomed more than 16,000 new members in 2018 alone.

Last week, table game dealers at Bally’s, Harrah’s, Paris, and Wynn Resorts’ properties also approved proposed unionization with the UAW. The workers were previously represented by the Transport Workers Union (TWU), but decided to part ways with it in January.

Wynn Resorts has said that its workers transferring to a new union would not have any significant impact on the company. The TWU also seemed to be comfortable with casino dealers opting to leave its ranks in favor of another union, with officials saying that they have decided to focus their resources on their core transportation-related sectors.

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