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Sunday, May 08, 2016

Ocean Downs Casino, Union Employees Reach New Agreement

OCEAN CITY – The six-month contract dispute between the Casino at Ocean Downs and almost 100 union employees has finally come to an end.

After several recent weeks of stalemate both sides met at the bargaining table, struck a compromise and thusly ratified a new collective bargaining agreement that runs until October 2017.

“This deal is a solid step forward for Ocean Downs employees,” said Mishy Leiblum, head organizer for Unite Here Local 7.
“This was the first time the employees at Ocean Downs ever formed picket lines or handed out leaflets. I know the employees are pleased with the results.”

Leiblum believes the increased picketing and petitioning at Ocean Downs in the past few weeks was vital in getting casino officials to agree to a return to the bargaining table, after they had drawn a proverbial line in the sand with a proclaimed “final offer,” which the union overwhelmingly rejected by a 91% margin, back in March.

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15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Shut it down and fire all those losers!! Unions will be the end of that place.

Anonymous said...

I feel 'kinda' the same way 9:42 except these people are making poverty level wages which qualifies them for welfare benefits which come out of tax payers pockets. So would you rather have their employers pay enough for them to get along or would you prefer you and others tax payers keep paying?
It's like the Walmart employees. Something like 80% of them receive at least one type of welfare. So basically tax payers are supplementing the employees of one of the world's largest retailer.

Anonymous said...

I'm surprised that bunch learned to walk upright,let alone carry signs.

Anonymous said...

10:11 I don't know of any union employees that make "poverty level". I'd have to see evidence of their salary range before I believe that.

Anonymous said...


It's sad that every worker doesn't do very well. I was in that boat years ago, but was fortunate to swim above.

Understood what commentators are saying, but never could understand walking the street.Reminds me of The Verizon Road Rage on Mt. Hermon in Salisbury.

Anonymous said...

Idiots they were making minimum wage and shit for benifits. You dumb red necks. Awwwww I hate da Union they just want money. Funny how many of you retards have used illegals on your farms then want to cry about taxes. Those people deserve a good living wage.

I am shocked at how many people hate what they dont know.

Anonymous said...

There go all the profits for the children.

Anonymous said...

They make around $9/hr. I know someone who works there and when she was doing her taxes a few months she told me she makes just over $20,000/yr. That's a little bit over $9/hr. She's worked there when it was just the racetrack and made more money then. She was able to buy a house but when it closed for renovations for the casino and she had to take a job in a convenience store she lost the house. She applied at the casino and got a job but makes not much more than working at the store. She has a teen age son and they get just about every kind of welfare benefit there is so that is a problem.

Anonymous said...

Paying the employees more money instead of it going to the state or in the pockets of a few is the only way for the economy to grow.
Casinos pay mostly minimum wage with a few cent raises here and there and I know a few people who work there and none get any benefits as we think of them. They say a break is a benefit.

Anonymous said...

I remember applying at SuperFresh many years ago. They offered $4.25, no real benefits (like I could have afforded $70 a week deducted from that paycheck?) and paying union dues...about $11 a month I think.
Plus it was "flexible part time"...which meant 12 to 16 hours a week unless they were busy, then I would be expected to drive back in and work as long as needed. Some weeks I might have gotten "full time" or close to it.

Unfortunately, that's not how daycare works.

I turned it down. Not all union jobs pay well, not all union jobs are good ones.

Anonymous said...

You would prefer everyone else (except yourself of course) be paid no more than minimum wage?

Silly socialist. Your taxes will provide subsidy for corporate payroll.

Anonymous said...

Couldn't find Ocean Downs but Glassdoor.com reports that a slot attendant at Maryland Live Casino in Hanover makes $9.20 per hour, a surveillance operator $15.20 per hour. Cocktail waitresses make $5.17 per hour and cashiers $9 per hour.
I would imagine Ocean Downs pays around the same but could be less due to metropolitan area vs. rural area.

Anonymous said...

"Anonymous said...

10:11 I don't know of any union employees that make "poverty level". I'd have to see evidence of their salary range before I believe that.

May 5, 2016 at 11:00 AM"

Many many employees who belong to a union only make minimum wage. Most in the food service industry such as cafeteria workers, meat packing such as those working in the slaughter houses, the Teamsters represent those in the freight industry and many of those truck driver make very little money esp if they drive for a big company. A lot of workers in canneries are unionized and make minimum wage.
I'm as right wing as you can get but that doesn't mean I fall for the right wing propaganda they put out.

Anonymous said...

How long has this casino been open? I have yet to set foot in the place.

Anonymous said...

11:48
We haven't either. They took the fun out of slots when they stopped letting use coins