Arbitrator rules for Foxwoods in union shuttle grievance

Mashantucket — An arbitrator has ruled that Foxwoods Resort Casino management stayed within the bounds of its union contract with UAW at Foxwoods when it curtailed shuttle-bus service for employees this spring, a move intended to save Foxwoods $2 million.

In a decision dated June 25 and communicated to union members last week, arbitrator Tim Bornstein found that although the contract obligates management to provide "all employees with free off-site parking and shuttle service of adequate frequency," it also allows management to make changes in the service "provided such changes are not arbitrary and capricious."

Citing the need to "keep business costs under control," Foxwoods informed employees in March that as of May 1 it would discontinue daily shuttle service from Foxwoods' Midway Lot on Industrial Drive in Groton and during the week from Route 2 commuter lots adjacent to Interstate 95 in North Stonington and west of Route 78 in Stonington.

UAW at Foxwoods, which represents some 2,500 table-games dealers, responded by filing a grievance in which it alleged the curtailment of service violated a provision of the union's first-ever contract with Foxwoods' owner, the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe, which took effect Jan. 29. Representatives of the union, including several employees affected by the transportation changes, offered testimony during two days of hearings, as did Foxwoods officials and a state trooper, who described the casino's effect on traffic conditions on Route 2 and Interstate 95.

According to Bornstein's 27-page decision, in 2009 a daily average of 250 to 260 employees parked in the tribe-owned Groton lot and took a shuttle bus to the casino, while between 650 to 725 employees a day were shuttled to and from the Route 2 lots, which are owned by the state. The casino also provides shuttle service for 1,500 to 1,600 employees from a lot the tribe owns on Route 2 in Norwich and for employees who use so-called Lot 10, which is located on Route 2 adjacent to MGM Grand at Foxwoods. Service from the Norwich lot and Lot 10 was not curtailed.

Ed Farrell, senior vice president of finance, testified that Foxwoods hired him "to increase productivity and examine costs because of several years of declining revenues." He said he learned that the casino was paying Peter Pan Bus Lines about $9 million a year to provide the off-site shuttle service. John Cafferty, Foxwoods' transportation director, who began a review of the service in June 2009, concluded that management could save $2 million by making changes to the off-site parking.