Union Seeks Permit For Foxwoods Protest

[The Man]

William Costigan wrote:

The Unions destroyed American manufacturing and the municipal unions are destroying Connecticut Towns ...... the Casino should tell the unions to BUTT OUT .... before they ruin yet another Connecticut industry

Amen!

[a dealer]

Let's hope no one gets hurt. Tractor trailers jacknifing?
We are not going to stand in traffic. This kind of hyperbole is just silly.
This dealer that was fired. This is not some joke about Madores's gods/ He was a good man, and his family was devastated and had to fight to pay his hospital bills and final expenses.
It happened. I am sorry that you think this is funny.
Viv, I hope that you really do come out to support us.
BTW, the UAW has not taken a dime from the dealers.
All we want and ever wanted was fair treatment.
I could expound on the reasons for our successful vote, but I am sure you are aware of most of the issues involved.
Dealers will be putting their jobs on the line for this simple action.

[raymond roode]

Casino workers pay income taxes but in Indian Country ar enot afford the same protections unde rour State and Federal Constitions.
Why are n t there stories about Tribal Chair Mike Thomas failure to re-pay a alledged loan from a New England bank for 5 million

[Typical Union Pigs]

Block a highway for no reason,,,hmm sounds like typical union crap. Try to damage the employers revenues by ruining a grand opening,,hmm again sounds like typical union bull****. Anyone who thinks unions care about anything other than own preservation is a deluded idiot. Unions are bad for America. They perhaps had a place here once, but all they are now is trouble. How long have the dealers been unionized, a few months and already the union is attempting to hurt the hand that feeds?? If the union had a brain (I know, I'm not holding my breath) they would be in the welcoming committee for the grand opening, not attempting to ruin it.

By the way "dealer" the tribe doesn't have stockholders. FYI.

[a dealer]

the hand that feeds? same hand slaps you around and takes takes takes.
not blockin a highway. just want to peacefully protest. BTW IA, no the "TRIBE" does not have stockholders.
it is a BILLION dollar a year entity.
They get all the booty. and pay their workers like paupers. wanna job? they have got plenty of them for the taking. We get paid $4.50 an hour minus tokes...
or are you rich?
Hmmm

[a dealer]

oops meant to say PLUS tokes.
Our Generous Players give us our living wage.
A toke is a tip, given for good service to our gaming public, and, even that is manipulated each week.
We are fully taxwd on this "toke rate"
and you feel we should not be afforded the same protections given to all American workers?
Never ceases to amaze me.

[ubetcha]

a dealer wrote:

oops meant to say PLUS tokes.
Our Generous Players give us our living wage.
A toke is a tip, given for good service to our gaming public, and, even that is manipulated each week.
We are fully taxwd on this "toke rate"
and you feel we should not be afforded the same protections given to all American workers?
Never ceases to amaze me.

You must be the Union Steward with Super Seniority. Or, an outside organizer with no interest in the Casino other than their dues. Get all the others to do you fighting for you, Slimeball, while you scream and hooler about the injustice of it all. You care nothing about the workers. It's all about your nest, ShiteBird.

[Tongue in Cheek]

I want to protest Global Warming. Can someone please contact the DOT to see if I can get a permit to take a lane on the Gold Star Bridge? I want to set up an Outhouse, a picnic area and a table in the right lane so that I can hand out bumper stickers to travelers on I-95. I can't imagine that this would be a safety concern. If possible I would like to do it on Memorial Day weekend. It shouldn't be busy so I can't believe I would cause any problems.

Anyone want to join me? I need someone to cover the table when I am in the outhouse creating methane.(oops. I am contributing to the problem)

[Geoff]

While earning hundreds of millions every quarter, Foxwoods has refused to increase some wages from the levels they opened with in 1992. Over those same profitable years, they have systematically amputated entire sections of the employee benefits program. Foxwoods has refused to acknowledge the legal rights of their employees on a great many issues. Rather than voluntarily provide and enforce these rights, Foxwoods has chosen to challenge their employees rights in several United States Courts. Recently, Foxwoods has lost every one of those legal arguments. The employees have struggled endlessly over the years trying to negotiate with management to correct/improve the deficiencies. Foxwoods has kept almost all of these disputes quiet, under the cover of media blackout. You can't even begin to imagine the enormous number of fights, public disturbances, suicides and murders that have taken place on the property over the last 16 years. I'll bet you never even wondered why you hadn't heard of these events. Big money makes certain that those stories are not allowed to be reported by the media. If those stories never see the light of day, just imagine how many labor abuses have occurred that weren't reported either. There have been more than 69,000 employees licensed at Foxwoods over the past 16 years. There are only about 10,000 employees left. More than 59,000 employees no longer work there. And those are only the ones that required licenses! To an intelligent person, that sort of turn around might indicate some sort impropriety at Foxwoods. A large group of tribal members are asking similar questions regarding the accountability, actions and treatments from their own tribal council.

Foxwoods has only been allowed to get away with these things under the cover of darkness. These employees are dragging the dirty laundry out into the light of day. A battered wife has a much better chance of survival, when the abuses are reported and more people are paying attention. Employees in this country deserve many of the protections provided by the laws and enforced by various government agencies. Foxwoods has argued that those laws, regulations and protections don't apply to them or to their employees. We are trying to prove to everyone who will listen, that Foxwoods is very wrong. As tax paying American citizens, we are as entitled to the protections under the law, as every single one of you reading these comments. For those of you asking what we want, come on out to the rally and we will be happy to tell you. With any good luck, you will also be able to watch it on your favorite news channel! "The most successful casino in the world" and arguably "the wealthiest tribe in the world," have the resources to correct each and every shortcoming. What they lack is the ethical consideration and the will to act responsibly.

[Gimme a break]

CT Democrat wrote:

Unions have become a running joke. They have no power and a poor reputation for actually being of benefit to the suckers who join.
What people forget is that Unions are a "Business" and all business's are created to make money.

You are so wrong and misguided, not all Unions are big boss Unions. The UE and many other independent Unions are dedicated to giving workers a voice. While it may be true that Unions helped push manufacturing overseas it is us Americans who let our leaders sell us out to greed and outrageous profits. As Americans we need to go back to a time when labor was respected by management, we must renegotiate unfair treaties that enslave foreign workers so that we can buy cheaply made goods and destroy the planet. If allowed to continue the downward spiral will start to affect management jobs then what will we do. Ronald Reagan trashed Unions in the 80's are we any better now. I do not recall a time when so many americans cannot afford the basic needs to live due to corporate greed. The Union should just block traffic with cars and close route 2 with people in the street if they do not get a permit. Would we have told the civil rights marchers to get a permit?

[VfV]

Tongue in Cheek wrote:

I want to protest Global Warming. Can someone please contact the DOT to see if I can get a permit to take a lane on the Gold Star Bridge? I want to set up an Outhouse, a picnic area and a table in the right lane so that I can hand out bumper stickers to travelers on I-95. I can't imagine that this would be a safety concern. If possible I would like to do it on Memorial Day weekend. It shouldn't be busy so I can't believe I would cause any problems.
Anyone want to join me? I need someone to cover the table when I am in the outhouse creating methane.(oops. I am contributing to the problem)

Where do I sign up?

[Beckie]

Geoff wrote:

You can't even begin to imagine the enormous number of fights, public disturbances, suicides and murders that have taken place on the property over the last 16 years. I'll bet you never even wondered why you hadn't heard of these events...... There have been more than 69,000 employees licensed at Foxwoods over the past 16 years. There are only about 10,000 employees left. More than 59,000 employees no longer work there. And those are only the ones that required licenses! To an intelligent person, that sort of turn around might indicate some sort impropriety at Foxwoods.

While the murders/suicides don't make the nightly news, word gets around. I've known about the extremely high suicide rate at both casinos for years now. Imagine though, if every incident was on the nightly news. How many more people would be out of jobs if people stopped going to the casinos because of all the suicides? From the tone of your post, you simultaneously want Foxwoods to pay higher wages and benefits to their employees, while broadcasting locally and nationally about the very things that would discourage customers from coming in and spending money and boosting the revenue that would make it possible for raises and more benefits. What kills me about your post, and so many others, is how shocked and astonished you are that Foxwoods is running itself like a business. Attempting to make as much profit as possible while keeping their expenses as low as possible. How dare they!

[a dealer]

Oh , yes, let's run ourselves as a business!!
Let's oppress the workers and make as much money as possible from a rapidly diminishing gaming public, with rapidly diminishing dicretionary spending power.
Sounds like a perfectly rational plan.
Why not just fire everyone who wants a fair shake from their employer, and just shut the damn place down?
We do not want to discourage customers from coming here.
We just want a fair shake from our slaveholders.
Wow! Think we wanted the whole World or something...
THIS IS A BILLION DOLLAR A YEAR ENTITEY!!ANd you feel sorry for them??
We, as dealers, HANDLE 40,00 visitors a DAY.
We serve our gaming public professionally and kindly.
A lot better than our employers serve us.

[VfV]

a dealer wrote:

Oh , yes, let's run ourselves as a business!!
Let's oppress the workers and make as much money as possible from a rapidly diminishing gaming public, with rapidly diminishing dicretionary spending power.
Sounds like a perfectly rational plan.
Why not just fire everyone who wants a fair shake from their employer, and just shut the damn place down?
We do not want to discourage customers from coming here.
We just want a fair shake from our slaveholders.
Wow! Think we wanted the whole World or something...
THIS IS A BILLION DOLLAR A YEAR ENTITEY!!ANd you feel sorry for them??
We, as dealers, HANDLE 40,00 visitors a DAY.
We serve our gaming public professionally and kindly.
A lot better than our employers serve us.

Ok, I'll bite...what is it exactly you want from your employer?

[Beckie]

a dealer wrote:

Oh , yes, let's run ourselves as a business!!
Let's oppress the workers and make as much money as possible from a rapidly diminishing gaming public, with rapidly diminishing dicretionary spending power.
Sounds like a perfectly rational plan.
Why not just fire everyone who wants a fair shake from their employer, and just shut the damn place down?
We do not want to discourage customers from coming here.
We just want a fair shake from our slaveholders.
Wow! Think we wanted the whole World or something...
THIS IS A BILLION DOLLAR A YEAR ENTITEY!!ANd you feel sorry for them??
We, as dealers, HANDLE 40,00 visitors a DAY.
We serve our gaming public professionally and kindly.
A lot better than our employers serve us.

If you weren't getting a fair shake why did you take the job in the first place? Do you make a decent hourly wage? Do you have medical insurance? Do you have dental? Considering that the only thing anyone here has complained about is a higher hourly wage - which by the way EVERYONE who works wants - why should I feel sorry for the employees of the casino???????? I want a raise too - but I'm not going to strike or picket my job. That's certainly not going to earn me any brownie points with my boss. Employment is about more than an hourly wage. Are you able to take time off to see the doctor without getting fired? Are you able to call out and stay home with a sick kid without getting fired?

[VfV]

Beckie wrote:

<quoted text>
If you weren't getting a fair shake why did you take the job in the first place? Do you make a decent hourly wage? Do you have medical insurance? Do you have dental? Considering that the only thing anyone here has complained about is a higher hourly wage - which by the way EVERYONE who works wants - why should I feel sorry for the employees of the casino???????? I want a raise too - but I'm not going to strike or picket my job. That's certainly not going to earn me any brownie points with my boss. Employment is about more than an hourly wage. Are you able to take time off to see the doctor without getting fired? Are you able to call out and stay home with a sick kid without getting fired?

Exactly!!! I did ask for more details...maybe it's something I'm missing. What is the unfairness? That there's been no raise? If you can't take the heat, get out of the sweat lodge.

In this economy, smelling of recession, you have a job in a thriving environment and if you do make a decent wage and have benefits...it's kind of like, "don't look a gift horse in the mouth," shutup, and get off the highway.

[VfV]

Ok, this is about tips.

First and foremost, you get tips from a number of drunk people. Be happy. What's the average amount of tips one can receive?

Second, what's the average starting pay for a dealer? If anyone says its over, say,$45,000 and these people are complaining that they're not getting as much tip money as they should be getting...I'm not responsible for what I say after that...