OCEAN CITY – Dozens of Casino at Ocean Downs employees took a gamble on trying to pressure their employers to increase their pay by picketing in front of the casino on Thursday afternoon.
In recent months, a handful of employees have been seen handing out leaflets to incoming casino goers in hopes of gaining public support for ongoing wage negotiations with Ocean Downs’ management. This week, the leaflets turned to picket signs.
“This is the first time that workers have organized a picket line in front of Ocean Downs, and we think that our demands for better pay are very similar to the conversation that is happening nationally about income inequality and the disappearance of the middle class,” said Mishy Leiblum, lead organizer with UNITE HERE local 7, which is a national organization that represents workers in the hotel, gaming, food service, transportation, and manufacturing industries.
According to Leiblum, about 100 of the workers at Ocean Downs are unionized, and they’ve been increasing their call for better compensation, especially since the revenue numbers for the casino have grown since it opened five years ago.
The union contract expired last October and no new agreement has been finalized.
Leiblum says the casino has remained constant with its practice of offering a 3-percent raise for employees once they work there for an entire year.
“The problem is that the beginning pay is so low that many people can’t last a whole year, so there is an unbelievably high turnover rate,” said Leiblum. “We are hoping to bring up the starting pay rates for employees so there can be a larger retention rate for the casino.”
Joe Cavilla, general manager at Ocean Downs, said that negotiations have encountered “lengthy delays” by union representatives who he says, have been “unavailable” to come to the table since the union contract expired in October.
“We are going to continue to come to the table to negotiate, but what they are asking for and what we have countered with are still pretty far apart,” he said.
Cavilla said the union has called for a 33-percent increase in starting salaries and as much as a 6% annual increase. Casino management countered with subtle raise adjustments in accordance with rising minimum wage laws, additional benefits and the 3-percent annual salary increase.
“Unlike many of the other businesses in this seasonal community, we maintain a majority of our employees, full time with benefits,” he said. “Our numbers drop 42% in the offseason, but we retain 85% of our employees and our benefit package is very good.”
Leiblum contests that the casino can absolutely afford to pay its workers better, pointing to Ocean Downs’ rising revenue it has reported to the Maryland Lottery and the Gaming Control Commission each year since it opened its doors.
Ocean Downs reported a 15-percent increase in revenue in December of 2015, compared with December 2014, and showed increases of 10.1 percent and 17.1 percent in January and February, respectively, from the prior year.
Amanda Dorsey is a cocktail server who has worked at the casino since opening day. She believes it’s time for the casino to take care of their people.
“Unlike the seasonal hotels and restaurants, we get customers year-round, seven days a week,” she said. “All we are asking is that Ocean Downs shares some of its gains with those of us who work hard to serve their customers.”
Glassdoor.com is a jobs and recruiting website that has over eight million company reviews, CEO approvals and salary reports in its database. In that database is a glimpse at the salary structure for some of the jobs at Maryland Live Casino in Hanover.
Cavilla says that while he is unfamiliar with what Maryland Live pays its employees, he presumed that the pay structure would be a bit different based on the metropolitan landscape that Maryland Live operates in versus the rural landscape of the Eastern Shore.
Glassdoor.com reports that a slot attendant at Maryland Live Casino makes roughly $9.20 per hour while a surveillance operator pulls in roughly $15.20 per hour. Cocktail waitresses make $5.17 per hour at Maryland Live and cashiers a little more than $9 per hour.
Leiblum hopes the picketing will lead to positive results in the negotiation process, which she says was further complicated when casino officials instructed its employees to cease handing out leaflets in past weeks.
“There have been charges filed against the casino for trying to stop its employees from handing out those leaflets,” she said.
Cavilla contests that while the employees were asked to cease handing out leaflets, it was only because it violated the casino’s strict no solicitation policy on the grounds.
“We didn’t punish any of our employees, or confiscate the literature or anything like that,” said Cavilla. “What they were doing was a violation of our solicitation policy. These are our employees, we are looking to come to a resolution as soon as we can.”