Horseshoe Indianapolis dealers and dual rates win union recognition after 53-day strike
Shelbyville, IN – In a decisive victory for their historic strike for union recognition, table games dealers and dual rate dealers at the Horseshoe Indianapolis casino voted overwhelmingly on Friday, December 5, to join Teamsters Local 135.
In an expedited NLRB election ordered after the end of the government shutdown, striking casino workers delivered a landslide mandate for union representation and forced Caesars Entertainment, the corporation that owns the casino, to recognize their union. The vote took place on day 50 of the strike.
The final tally showed 100 votes for the union and 47 against, a 53-vote margin in favor of Local 135. Caesars management challenged the ballots of 50 of its employees – more than one in four eligible workers – but the challenged ballots were not determinative to the outcome. More than two-thirds of the challenged ballots were cast by striking workers, who voted yes. Caesars also challenged all dual rate ballots, continuing to claim dual rates are “supervisors,” despite multiple NLRB rulings rejecting that position.
A strike-day election
Polling opened at 5 a.m. inside the Horseshoe casino. Across the street, the striking dealers and dual rates held a mass rally before walking together in groups to cast their ballots. The NLRB’s decision to hold the election at the casino was an egregious example of the federal government violating the rights of workers. In ordering the election in this manner, the NLRB effectively forced strikers to cross their own picket line. Despite this gross violation of workers’ rights, turnout was not diminished in the slightest. Every striker voted, and the rally on the picket line across the street continued throughout the day.
When polls closed at 10 p.m., workers again assembled across the street for a victory gathering. An hour later, the results were announced. Striking workers celebrated an overwhelming win for the union.
Horseshoe General Manager Trent McIntosh and Table Games Manager Lee Ann Hinthorne were present during the vote count, along with an attorney from the casino. All three were advised by Littler Mendelson, the anti-union law firm that Caesars paid tens of thousands of dollars per day throughout the campaign. All looked on as the workers delivered a resounding defeat to Caesars’ months-long anti-union effort, which included illegal firings, threats, captive-audience meetings, illegal attempts at strike-breaking, and around-the-clock pressure.
The road to victory and beyond
The December 5 election came exactly 50 days after the strike began on October 17, when day-shift dealers walked off the floor in unison, shutting down table games. The strike came after Horseshoe management refused to honor the union's request to proceed with a neutral-administered election during the government shutdown, which indefinitely postponed all scheduled union elections.
Workers held a continuous, militant, round-the-clock picket line through storms, freezing temperatures, police repression, and a coordinated effort by the city of Shelbyville and Caesars to restrict public space around the casino. Their organization and persistence sharply limited Caesars’ ability to continue union-busting and held the unit together through the shutdown until victory.
Teamsters Local 135 President Dustin Roach called the outcome “a victory written in courage, sacrifice and snow,” saying the workers had “shown the world exactly what it means to fight for dignity.”
In a statement after the vote, Teamsters Local 135 said that the dealers and dual rates “faced down a billion-dollar corporation. They endured pressure, fear tactics, and every trick Caesars could throw at them. They sacrificed paychecks, sleep, family time and comfort — all for each other. And tonight, they won.”
The strike officially concluded on Monday, December 8, when the dealers and dual rates returned to work as recognized Teamsters Local 135 members. They are immediately beginning to organize a strong first-contract campaign.
The Horseshoe recognition strike now stands as one of the most consequential labor victories in recent Indiana history, and a rare example in the modern era of workers using a recognition strike to force a major corporation to the bargaining table.