Union employees at Encore Boston Harbor, a Wynn-operated gaming property in Everett, Boston, Massachusetts, are preparing to go on strike after failing to reach a mutually satisfactory agreement with the casino management. At the same time, Wynn told gaming news outlet Casino.org that it remains committed to reaching a fair agreement that doesn’t ignore the financial reality of the situation.
The Workers Prepare to Strike This Friday
Last month, some 1,350 workers at Encore Boston Harbor voted in favor of a strike after repeated failures to negotiate better work conditions. The workers, who are members of Unite Here Local 26 and Teamsters Local 25, include all manner of casino staffers, such as slot attendants, bartenders, cooks, servers, housekeepers, and warehouse workers, among others.
The workers seek hourly pay increases of $10 over four years and starting base pay of $25 an hour, as well as healthcare and pension benefit guarantees. For reference, the union members’ bargaining contracts expired on August 31.
Since casino officials have yet to agree to these terms, the 1,000+ union members are now preparing for a strike. The employees are threatening to walk off the job this Friday to highlight how serious they are.
Rosa Mendoza, a call center worker and union steward for Teamsters Local 25, warned that Encore Boston Harbor faces a work stoppage if the management fails to appreciate the hard work of its staff members. She asked Boston families to stand with union members and honor the picket line if a strike does end up materializing.
This echoes an earlier statement by Teamsters Local 25 president Thomas Mari, who said: “If our members are on that sidewalk, we’re asking every worker and every family in this city to stand with them: while they’re out, stay out.”
Wynn Resorts Asks Employees to Consider the Financial Reality
At the same time, Wynn Resorts officials spoke about this matter with Casino.org journalists. While the Wynn representatives emphasized that they remain committed to supporting the Encore Boston Harbor workers and wish to reach a fair agreement, they added that the deal must be “grounded in financial reality.”
Wynn officials noted that over the past four years, Unite Here and Teamsters wages and benefits at Encore Boston Harbor grew 36.8%, far outpacing the 1.9% increase in revenue and the 8.5% increase in consumer prices in Boston. Company representatives emphasized that a sustainable agreement must reflect the actual performance of the business and warned that proposals that ignore the financial realities in favor of short-term benefits could lead to long-term job cuts.
Wynn emphasized that since Encore Boston Harbor opened in June 2019, it has paid more than $1.3 billion in wages and benefits to its members.
It has yet to be seen whether Encore Boston Harbor will be able to reach an agreement with its workers ahead of the scheduled strike.