A local arm of the New York headquartered UNITE HERE is upping the ante in its long-running campaign for a tribal California casino to recognize the union’s claim to represent its workers.
According to the Sacramento Bee, UNITE HERE Local 49 led around 100 casino workers in a protest Tuesday evening in front of Sky River Casino.
The workers aren’t protesting for a pay rise as such, just that Sky River recognizes Local 49 as its workers’ representative. The union arm appears to have had enough of the status quo, having long argued that under an agreement reached in 2017, Sky River must recognize it.
We’re going to continue to escalate.”
Tuesday’s protest marked Local 49’s first public action visible to casino customers. Its president Aamir Deen led the protests and stated that the union was “doing something a little bit bigger” in the hope Sky River changes course. Deen warned, however, that “We’re going to continue to escalate.”
The position of the Wilton Rancheria, a federally recognized Native American tribe and owner/operator of Sky River, is that under tribal code, Local 49 must first call all the workers for an election.
On Tuesday, Wilton Rancheria Gaming Authority President Cammeron Hodson repeated Sky River’s calls for “a secret ballot election among the workers.”
Hodson added that Sky River workers “have been waiting for an opportunity to decide for themselves” if they want to join Local 49.
Local 49, meanwhile, argues that a vote “would extend an already prolonged process.”
