Bartenders union plans new Foxwoods efforts

A tentative agreement reached between the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe and UAW at Foxwoods, the union for some 2,500 table-games dealers at Foxwoods Resort Casino and MGM Grand at Foxwoods, has encouraged another union to renew a bid to organize casino workers.

Once dealers ratify the contract settlement - they're scheduled to vote Friday - Local 371 of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union will move forward with plans to organize the hundreds of bartenders, beverage servers, lounge hosts and bar porters who work at the casinos, Brian Petronella, president of the local, said Wednesday.

The bartenders voted 207-133 against affiliating with the UFCW in balloting last April. About 60 workers who were eligible to vote did not, Petronella said.

"It's had a great impact on our organization," Petronella said of UAW at Foxwoods' announcement Tuesday that it had reached a tentative settlement with the tribe. "I spoke to UAW about it last night."

The two-year contract would afford dealers a 12 percent increase in their base rate of pay and provides for the combining of the casinos' toke, or tip, pools. It also provides for extended medical leave, establishment of a smoke-free gaming area and greater job security.

Both sides hailed the agreement as historic, the first of its kind negotiated under tribal rather than federal law.

Petronella said the UFCW would go through the National Labor Relations Board in seeking to organize workers this time around. It did not do so last time.

"We're not going to go through tribal law this time," Petronella said. "We're going to do it just like the dealers did. They voted (to affiliate with the UAW) under the NLRB, then negotiated a contract under tribal law. If we're successful in (organizing) under NLRB, then we can discuss how to negotiate."

In November 2007, Foxwoods dealers voted 1,289 to 852 in favor of UAW representation. Contract talks began a year later, after the sides agreed to negotiate under tribal law, which prohibits strikes by employees and lockouts by the employer and provides for arbitration.

Petronella said he has no timetable for launching a union drive.

"I can tell you that since the last election a substantial number (of employees) have signed up to say they want another election," he said. "We want to make sure we have a solid, solid majority before we move forward."

Under NLRB rules, a union must collect signed authorization cards from 30 percent of the employees it seeks to represent before it can petition for an election.

The tribe has also been negotiating a contract with the Uniformed Professional Fire Fighters Association of Connecticut, the bargaining unit for about 20 firefighters. The parties have been negotiating under tribal law.

b.hallenbeck@theday.com