MGM Grand Detroit casino workers ratify contract, end strike
MGM Grand Detroit casino workers voted to ratify a new contract Saturday, ending a 47-day strike at the gaming house.
The MGM Grand Detroit workers are union members of the Detroit Casino Council, which represents 3,700 employees of Detroit's three casinos. The strike is suspended immediately, according to the Detroit Casino Council.
According to the casino coucil, the five-year agreement covering 1,700 employees includes an average immediate 18% pay raise, the largest wage increases ever for MGM Grand Detroit workers. The agreement also includes a bonus, workload reductions, no health care cost increases for employees and other job protections.
"Since welcoming my son into the world, securing my family's health care benefits was the most important thing to me,” Gabriel Robert Hernandez, a valet at MGM Grand Detroit and member of Teamsters Local 1038, said in a statement Saturday. “We sacrificed a lot during the pandemic, but we fought for and ultimately won a contract that secures our health care and provides significantly improved wages.”
The ratified agreement also includes contract language that addresses for the first time technology protections that includes guaranteeing that employees will get advance notification when new technology is introduced that impacts jobs.
In a statement Saturday, Matt Buckley, President and COO of Midwest Group, MGM Resorts International, said: “We’re glad our DCC-represented employees voted tonight to ratify the 64-month contract and end the strike, allowing us to immediately resume full and normal operations at MGM Grand Detroit. We’re excited to welcome our team back and continue providing our guests the entertainment experiences for which MGM Grand Detroit is known.”
The agreement comes nearly two weeks after roughly 2,100 workers at MotorCity Casino and Hollywood Casino at Greektown voted to ratify a new contract. Those workers were on strike for 34 days.
Members of the Detroit Casino Council walked off the job Oct. 17 after negotiations failed to reach new contracts. The workers, including dealers, cleaning staff, food and beverage workers, valets and engineers, called for wage increases, job and health care protections and reduced workloads.
