Employees in the housekeeping, food and beverage and uniform services departments at IP Casino Resort in Biloxi will join the UNITE HERE union, following a union card check held earlier this year. David Strow, spokesman for IP Casino parent company Boyd Gaming, said more than half of the employees in those departments indicated they wanted to join the union.
“We’re going to respect the wishes of our team members to be represented by that union,” Strow said, adding the company will recognize the union and begin contract negotiations. According to Mississippi Gaming Commission figures, IP Casino had 1,442 employees at the end of 2015; the 585 employees who will be represented by the union are 41 percent of the current workforce.
UNITE HERE has 263,000 members in the U.S. and Canada, including Boyd Gaming employees in other states.
