Ameristar Casino employees who are members of UNITE HERE Local 1 recently held a rally at the East Chicago property, urging patrons to boycott the casino until a contract settlement is negotiated with owner Pinnacle Entertainment Inc. that keeps employees’ current health insurance plan charges level.
Nine-year casino bartender and bargaining team member Natalie Mijares said, “The biggest thing for the company to know is we have daily contact with your customer base and they support us. They care.” Union members said Pinnacle has proposed a company health plan that charges its employees up to $4,000 a year in payroll deductions for family coverage. Union spokesman Joe Shansky said UNITE HERE has been negotiating with Pinnacle for more than two years. Its members, including food and beverage servers, bartenders and cleaning staff who earn about $16,000 a year, want to keep their current insurance plan for which employees nothing as individuals and $30 a month for families and dependents.
Casino Vice President and General Manager Matt Schuffert stated the $4,000 figure is at the high end of options available under the Pinnacle health care plan. Schuffert noted Unite Here represents about 200 of the more than 1,200 team members at Ameristar East Chicago. They are the only Pinnacle employees out of more than 15,000 in the company’s 15 locations who are represented by UNITE HERE.
“While we acknowledge the rights of our UNITE HERE-represented team members to express their opinions, we are disappointed that UNITE HERE would choose to initiate an activity that could disrupt the experience of our guests and potentially impact the livelihood of all of our team members,” Schuffert said.
Mijares pointed out, “We spent the last 15 years fighting hard for this insurance. Majestic Star and Blue Chip casinos agreed to keep the same insurance and settled their contracts. Insurance has been the reason casino jobs are good jobs. You know you won’t be out a couple grand if you have to go to the emergency room. We’re willing to settle very quickly if we can keep our insurance plan,” she added.
UNITE HERE Local 1 represents 200 workers at Ameristar, 300 workers at Majestic Star casinos in Gary and 450 workers at Blue Chip Casino in Michigan City. Union contracts at Blue Chip and Majestic Star were settled in December 2013 and November 2014.
