Casino dealers file for UAW representation at Casino Aztar in Evansville, Ind.

Evansville, Ind. – A majority of casino dealers and dual-rate dealers at Casino Aztar in Evansville, Ind., filed a petition today with the National Labor Relations Board seeking a union representation election. About 180 workers will be eligible to vote in the election.

Casino Aztar workers presented their employer with a notice of the decision by a majority of casino dealers to form their own union in Evansville today. A petition requesting a union election was also filed with the NLRB office in Indianapolis.

Casino Aztar is owned by Columbia Sussex, which also owns the Tropicana casino in Atlantic City, N.J. A majority of dealers at the Atlantic City property have signed union authorization cards seeking to become part of the UAW, and a union representation election will take place at Tropicana in Atlantic City on Saturday, Aug. 25.

“Casino Aztar is an important part of the Evansville economy, and we’re proud that workers there want to be part of our union,” said Mo Davison, director of UAW Region 3, which includes Indiana and Kentucky. “Casino workers will have total support from UAW members in their effort to win a voice at work and dignity on the job.”

“The gaming industry has been very successful as a unionized industry, providing good jobs at good wages — except in too many places, dealers have been left out of the equation,” said UAW Secretary-Treasurer Elizabeth Bunn, who directs the union’s Technical, Office and Professional (TOP) Organizing Department. “Casino dealers have decided it’s time for a change, and our union is ready to assist them in every way possible.”

Earlier this year, strong majorities of dealers at Caesars, Trump Plaza and Bally’s in Atlantic City voted in favor of forming their own unions. The UAW represents about 6,000 gaming employees in Atlantic City, Detroit and Newport, R.I.