Michigan City, IN – Slot attendants and dual-rate slot attendants at Blue Chip Casino Hotel Spa voted overwhelmingly to unionize with Teamsters Local 135 in an NLRB election held July 30 and 31. 18 workers voted yes, only two voted no, and one ballot was challenged, equating to a 90% landslide for the union. Every eligible voter cast a ballot.

The outstanding victory caps off more than a month of organizing that began June 23, when slot attendants marched on the boss and delivered a union recognition letter to General Manager JC Rieger. After Blue Chip refused voluntary recognition, Teamsters Local 135 filed for an NLRB election that same day.

In the weeks between the march and the vote, Boyd Gaming, which owns Blue Chip, mounted an aggressive campaign to defeat the union. They delayed pre-scheduled annual raises earned by the slot attendants and dual rates, citing the impending NLRB election. At the same time, they gave sizable raises to the other non-union departments in hopes of demoralizing the workers.

The company brought in a union-avoidance consulting firm it has yet to disclose to the Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS), as federal law requires. Workers say at least three consultants worked the floor, including two who went by the names “Louisa” and “Charlie.” Union-busting consultants regularly lie about their real names to obscure their identities and avoid accountability for their shameful activities. Blue Chip must, by law, disclose their real identities to the OLMS.

The consultants pulled slot attendants into repeated one-on-one and small-group meetings to pressure them into voting no. Management sent anti-union letters to workers' homes, papered break rooms and back-of-house areas with misleading propaganda, and bombarded workers' phones with text messages. Boyd Gaming even enlisted employees from a separate, non-union department to lobby slot attendants against the union.

None of it worked. Union organizers and slot attendants said that management appeared visibly shaken by the result of the vote when the NLRB agent read out the count on the afternoon of July 31.

Blue Chip Teamsters will now move to elect their bargaining committee and begin drafting contract proposals. Teamsters Local 135 conducts open bargaining, meaning any union member can sit in on negotiations with the company, a practice the local uses to keep rank-and-file workers directly involved and organized throughout the fight for a first contract.

The Blue Chip win is part of a broader surge in casino organizing by the Teamsters, who have organized hundreds of new casino workers over the past year, including table games dealers in Indiana and Virginia. The union now represents more than 6000 casino workers nationwide.

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Michigan City, IN – Slot attendants at Blue Chip Casino Hotel Spa marched on management Tuesday, June 23, to demand voluntary recognition of their union with Teamsters Local 135.

Joined by Teamsters from Locals 135, 364 and 142, approximately 15 slot attendants and supporters marched through the casino before presenting a union recognition letter to General Manager JC Rieger on the gaming floor. The letter was read aloud before being handed to Rieger, who accepted the demand letter but offered no response.

The letter warned Blue Chip management to refrain from union-busting, stating “that should you or any other Company Representative make any unilateral changes to the employees’ terms and conditions of employment or take any type of retaliatory action against employees” the local union would “enforce these employees’ rights to the fullest extent of the law.”

As the delegation concluded, workers filled the casino with chants of “Who are we? Teamsters!”

Later that day, Teamsters Local 135 filed a representation petition with the National Labor Relations Board. A pre-election hearing has been scheduled for July 2.

The bargaining unit includes slot attendants and dual-rate slot attendants, a majority of whom have signed authorization cards for representation with the Teamsters. Workers say they are organizing in response to declining wages, chronic understaffing, unjust discipline, a punitive attendance policy, and a paid time off system that often leaves employees waiting without timely approval or denial of their requests.

Workers also point to the consolidation of the guest service representative position into the slot attendant classification without any corresponding increase in pay, leaving attendants responsible for additional duties while earning the same wages.

One of the central issues in the campaign is the decline in tip income for slot attendants. Although attendants receive an hourly wage, the most significant portion of their earnings comes from pooled tips, or tokes, left by players receiving hand-paid jackpots. Recent changes to the federal W-2G reporting threshold increased the amount that triggers a mandatory hand-pay from $1200 to $2000, and many casinos have adjusted their slot machines accordingly. Workers say fewer hand-pays means fewer opportunities to earn tips, resulting in a sharp decline in take-home pay even as their workload has increased.

Teamsters Local 135 is also seeking contractual protection for tipped casino employees elsewhere in Indiana, including guaranteed toke rates for slot attendants and table games dealers during ongoing contract negotiations at Horseshoe Indianapolis.

The recognition campaign at Blue Chip marks the latest casino organizing effort by Teamsters Local 135, as gaming workers across Indiana continue pushing for a greater voice on the job and contracts that address wages, staffing, and working conditions.

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