At the beginning of September, the workers at the Beau Rivage Casino (owned by MGM Resorts International) voted to form a union. That makes the Beau Rivage the third casino on the Gulf Coast to unionize. Over 1,000 workers at the Beau Rivage are included in the union. They are represented by the MGM Gaming Workers Council, which is comprised of Unite Here Local 23, International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 891, and International Union of Operating Engineers Local 406.
Under the union contract, workers will see a pay increase—in fact the highest across-the-board pay increase that Unite Here! has managed to win for any group of workers on the Gulf Coast. But the pay increase is only part of the win. Workers at the casino now have the option to join the union health insurance plan at a lower rate.
They are also no longer isolated individuals, fireable at will; they are part of a collective bargaining arrangement. That means that whatever issues they have with the owners or management in the future, the have the backing of their other co-workers and the rest of the union. Other MGM workers are already unionized in Las Vegas, Tunica, and New Orleans.