Posted on 03/06/2014 1:27:21 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Contract negotiations are stalled for thousands of workers at casinos on the Strip and in downtown Las Vegas to the point where they may go on strike — and the sticking point is Obamacare.
On Feb. 20, thousands of housekeepers, porters, cooks, cocktail servers, and others represented by Nevada’s largest union, the Culinary Union Local 226, voted to end a contract extension the workers agreed to last summer. The union wants to maintain its current benefits — including health care coverage at no cost to workers, pensions, and guaranteed 40-hour workweeks.
Rising health care costs due to provisions in the Affordable Care Act could put those benefits in jeopardy, the union says.
“The biggest hurdle to reaching settlements in Vegas is the new costs imposed on our health plan by Obamacare,” Donald “D” Taylor, president of Unite Here, the parent union of CU Local 226, told BuzzFeed in a statement. “Even though the president and Congress promised we could keep our health plan, the reality is, unless the law is fixed, that won’t be true.”
On March 20, workers will have the opportunity to decide whether or not they would want to walk off the job at several hotels, including the Stratosphere, the Riviera, and the Plaza.
The vote wouldn’t necessarily start a strike. A successful vote would merely give the union the right to authorize a strike. But once a motion to strike passed with a simple majority, workers could walk off the job at any time.
Union leaders have long voiced concern over the health care law’s effect on their Taft-Hartley plans, which are collectively bargained plans maintained by multiple employers and a labor union. Under the Affordable Care Act, Taft-Hartley plan recipients (like the members of CU 226) are not eligible for tax subsidies. That makes some union employees more expensive for employers who provide health care, making employers less agreeable when it comes time to foot the bill.
Taylor has been outspoken about his displeasure with President Barack Obama’s signature health care law for some time, going as far as meeting with one of his top critics, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, earlier this year. This is a far cry from how most union leaders have handled their Obamacare grievances — often toeing the line between admitting the law needs changes and actually criticizing the administration.
“You can’t just order people to do stuff,” Taylor told the Washington Post in January. “If their health plan gets wrecked, why would they then go campaign for the folks responsible for wrecking their health care?”
In response to the contract situation, CU Local 226 has already worked out a deal with MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment, which covers another 35,000 workers. The deal includes free health care coverage for all workers, as well as other provisions the unions say protect workers. Similar health care plans at other non-union hotels cost between $300 and $400 a month, according to internal union documents.
CU Local 226 represents approximately 55,000 workers overall.
Yvanna Cancela, political director for CU Local 226, said with rising health care costs due to Obamacare, employers have started to say they can no longer afford to pay for their health care. In some situations, companies have asked workers to also pay into an HMO.
According to Cancela, negotiations are ongoing, and some are further ahead than others. A deal was struck as recently as early Wednesday morning with the Tropicana Hotel, in which workers will keep their benefits, including free health care and a pension.
But the March 20 vote still looms.
“I think members will make a decision based on where they’re at in negotiations, and considering how negotiations are going, I think workers will likely give the union authority to call for a strike,” Cancela said.
The last time a similar strike happened was in 1991, when workers from five different unions walked off the job for six years, four months, and 10 days before the dispute was worked out.
“Hopefully we reach a settlement and never get to that point,” Cancela said.
You voted for it. Live with it, suckers........................
Tomorrow the Koch brothers should run non stop ads with a big picture of Harry Reid and the tag line....you are all liars. And thanks for the votes.
Yep....my inclination is to tell them they can get their ObamaCare Subsidy Checks at the North Las Vegas Bank of “Suck it.”
Exactly! If these 10,000 mean business, start a RECALL drive on their very senior Senator.
Anyone want to bet on when Obama throws Nevada unions a bone?
A “no-cost” health plan under Obamacare is $20,000 or so that has to come from somewhere. If they’re only making say, $25,000/year are they expecting to nearly double their income? Will they provide twice as much value?
I can find no tears for them. Nope, none are coming.
Cry me a river Union dude - you forced Obamacare on the rest of us - live with it.
Schadenfreude.
Dirty Harry is their man and they got no waiver?
Man what is a Democrat senator good for these days....
I won’t hold my breath in hopes that this will even be a glitch on the “obamadontcare is wonderful” radar.
The unions will somehow make sure dear leader comes out smelling like a rose.
How come they didn’t get in on the act and get an OBarryCare waiver? In Harry (the booty) Reid’s own backyard even.
Scrooge them—they voted for this and dont give a rip about America—only their wallets and forget about the rest. We know their kind.
They re-elected Harry Reid; T.S.
Just like most Liberal policies, Obamacare has made the number of people uninsured rise instead of fall.
Haven’t you heard? They were all promised subsidies. $20,000 to pay for their healtcare so that it is free or at least “affordable” as in the Afordable Care Act.
Where are those subsidies will come from when EVERYONE is getting them, hasn’t been sorted out yet. But I am sure they will figure it out. :)
BTW, good question and the root of the problem for the ACA.
popcorn please!
Just think—10,000 more happy souls freed from job-lock.
“A deal was struck as recently as early Wednesday morning with the Tropicana Hotel, in which workers will keep their benefits, including free health care and a pension. “
Stupid hotel. That means they will raise their rates..
“Where are those subsidies will come from when EVERYONE is getting them, hasn’t been sorted out yet.”
I gathered the people who voted for Obama and wanted Obamacare expected that “the rich” would be paying for it. But they have discovered that THEY are the rich.
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