Bally's Black Hawk Staff Become Colorado's First Unionised Casino Workers

Workers at Bally's three casinos in Black Hawk, Colorado have voted to join Teamsters Local 455, which the union says makes them the first unionised casino employees in the state.

The card-check vote covers 110 staff across Bally's East, North and West properties, including bartenders, cashiers, cooks, maintenance technicians, slot attendants and slot technicians. "The workers at Black Hawk Casino came together to secure a stronger voice on the job, and they've made history in the process," said Tommy Blitsch, director of the Teamsters convention, trade show and casino division.

The vote was made possible by a neutrality accord Bally's signed with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters last November. The two have been building a relationship across the operator's estate: in February, 66 bankers, front desk workers and cashiers at Bally's Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi voted to join, and in January Bally's Twin River Casino in Rhode Island agreed a five-year deal covering 35 maintenance and valet employees.

The Teamsters have more than 1.3 million members but a comparatively small gaming footprint, representing close to 6,000 members at casinos and casino hotels. Other organised venues include Wynn Resorts' Encore Boston Harbor and Hard Rock Casino Rockford in Illinois.

Black Hawk is one of the fastest-growing gaming markets in the country and home to a dozen casinos, with Caesars Entertainment, Monarch Casino & Resort and Penn Entertainment also operating there, so whether the vote spreads is an open question. Bally's also runs a racino in Aurora, Colorado. Its West segment covers the Colorado properties along with Bally's Lake Tahoe in Stateline, Nevada and a development project on the Las Vegas Strip.

The company is meanwhile holding back construction on the amenities around its $1.7 billion Chicago casino in a dispute with the city over video gambling terminals.