Members of the United Steelworkers union and officials at Mardi Gras Casino in Nitro, West Virginia, reached a tentative agreement in a dispute over health care premiums. Clifford Crum, commissioner of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, said he could not reveal details of the agreement but added, “I’m just happy both parties reached an agreement that both sides can live with.”
Previously the casino’s 200 union employees voted to reject a contract offer that called for an increase in health insurance premiums. In the last contract, the company/worker split was 90/10; the new proposal split was 75/25, adding $100 to employees’ insurance premiums. The mediator was called in a last-ditch effort to avoid a strike, which had been authorized against the casino by a vote of union members one week earlier.
Mardi Gras Corporate Senior Executive Vice President Dan Adkins said although union members’ concerns were not totally answered, management agreed to remove certain contract language giving the casino the option to change aspects of the policy until it expired. Adkins said the casino copied language from federal law but union members found it confusing. If the members agree to the changes, the new health insurance premium coverage would be implemented immediately.
