By rssfeeds-admin 
The federal government shutdown has delayed a unionization election set for the days to come to be overseen by the National Labor Relations Board, which hasn’t been at work since last week due to the budget impasse in Washington.
”Due to the government shutdown our union votes have been delayed,” said Ericka Hacker, a dealer for six years at the casino. “We are done waiting. We demand Horseshoe Indianapolis to recognize us as a union now.”
The workers, flanked by organizers from Teamsters Local 135, said they have been turned down on an alternate third-party observer, which would have permitted the Oct. 17 election to go forward without delay.
“We’ve already had a vote,” said Zachary Holbrook, a dealer/supervisor. “92% of the majority voted for strike authorization.”
Once the workers vote to organize, they would designate the union to bargain on their behalf with Caesars Entertainment.
”Horseshoe Indianapolis is the second highest grossing Caesar property in the United States outside of Las Vegas,” said Hacker. ”Corporate has become increasingly focused on profits over people. Table games dealers and dual rates, which helped build this department in 2020, have now been rewarded with insulting three percent raises which are eleven cents an hour on our base pay.”
The workers rallied outside of the casino Tuesday morning.
“They’re making millions of dollars and they’re paying us about six dollars an hour,” said dealer Rick Kurtz. “They don’t even pay us for our vacations. It’s ridiculous. We have to pool our tips to get paid vacations.”
Data released last week by the Indiana Gaming Commission showed that statewide casino revenue after paying off winners dropped by nearly four percent compared with September of 2024.
Potential union members in Shelbyville said they don’t fear automation will ever replace them on the casino floor.
” It’s impossible to go to automation on table games. The technology isn’t there,” said Kurtz. “They had automated blackjack. Nobody played it. They had automated craps tables in there. We had a dealer just standing there all day long. Nobody playing it. People want the live interaction with the dealers.”
Caesars Entertainment released the following statement about a potential strike:
Caesars Entertainment values its long-standing relationship with labor unions, including those currently representing Team Members at Horseshoe Indianapolis. While the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has postponed this scheduled union vote due to the federal government shutdown, we remain committed to ensuring our Team Members can exercise their legally protected right to vote in a union election. We fully support the NLRB process and will continue to comply with all federal regulations.
We are proud of the workplace environment we’ve built and will respect and support our Team Members should they choose to pursue union representation through the federally recognized process. In the event our Table Games Dealers and Dual Rate Team Members choose to strike, we remain confident in our ability to continue serving our guests without disruption, maintaining the high standards of hospitality they expect from us.
While other casino technical and support employees are unionized, they are under no obligation to honor picket lines of striking workers, though guests can certainly make their own decisions.
”We just hope the people will support us and stay away,” said Kurtz.
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