Foxwoods to stop employee shuttle service

Foxwoods Resort Casino management has informed employees that it will discontinue the shuttle bus service it provides from parking lots in Norwich, North Stonington and Stonington at the end of February.

The cost-cutting move will mark the end of all off-site shuttle transportation for Foxwoods employees, a process that began in the spring of 2010.

The casino discontinued shuttle service from a commuter a lot in Groton in May 2010, at which time it also began limiting service to weekends and holidays from Route 2 lots adjacent to Interstate 95 in North Stonington and west of Route 78 in Stonington.

Service from Route 2 lots in Norwich and adjacent to MGM Grand at Foxwoods had been maintained. An estimated 1,500 to 1,600 employees use the lots.

UAW at Foxwoods, the union representing table-games dealers at Foxwoods, filed a grievance over the 2010 curtailment of service, claiming it violated the casino's contract with the union. An arbitrator ruled that Foxwoods acted within the bounds of the contract.

In a notice to union members Friday, the union's president said the closing of the Norwich lot will cause employees "serious hardship," and that union representatives would meet with Foxwoods officials to discuss ways to minimize the impact.

Terms of the union's contract, which expired Dec. 31, have been extended while the union and the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe, which owns Foxwoods, negotiate a new deal.