---ARE YOU MAD AT FOXWOODS?---

Here it comes. The big guns are being pulled out. Every day now there will be a new anti-Union barrage. Memos and position statements will be dropping all around. Still waiting for FNN to crank up. Don’t forget mandatory meetings for all employees. The long string of big white multi language memos, strung out by the cafes, very impressive. Not to mention private intimidation meetings. By the way, these have already started. Their first target stood up well to the pressure of a private meeting. Don’t fall prey to these tactics. And we don’t have to. We can all stand tall and give Foxwoods a good old American salute.
Now lets take a look at the latest drivel coming in from the 4^th floor.

Small type are their words. Large type is our response.

“Signing a card does not guarantee an election.”

Signing a card, does in fact, not guarantee an election. We could get too small of the percentage needed to force an election. This would happen if enough people don’t sign cards. This is unlikely given that the number is relatively small. If 30% or more of the eligible workforce sign cards, it would force an election.
Another way there would be no election is if the company pulls so many underhanded or illegal stunts, the NLRB could just rule the Union in, because it felt it couldn‘t get a fair election. Foxwoods would never follow this route. Or at least they wouldn’t advertise it.
So they must be talking about the other situation where an election is not needed. That is when a vast majority of employees sign cards and the company knows it can’t win an election and just bends to the obvious will of the employee and allows the Union in without an election.
As an added bonus, they would be abiding by their often repeated statement of listening to and responding to the voice of the employees.

“Unions often try to use these cards to get in without any vote.”

Well duh! The Union is fighting to win. The Union is made up of the employees. The employees, by signing cards are saying they want to be represented by the Union. If a vast majority of employees sign cards and the company sees it could not possibly win a vote then it could just let the Union in. This outcome would be the best as far as employees go. That doesn’t seem like something we should worry about. Does it?

Unions often will say just about anything to try to get people to sign cards.

Union(s) may very well say anything to get you to sign cards. Our Union at Foxwoods has made no outlandish claims. Their modest promise has centered around helping the employees form a Union. If the employees do that, then the Union will help the employees negotiate a better future here at Foxwoods. What is wrong with a deal like that?

There is no requirement that organizers give truthful or accurate information.

But the Union has been truthful. Not because it has to. Because it wants to. Because it knows if it can get the true story out, it will win.
Management on the other hand, has a long history of saying just about anything to get people to do what they want. And they are trying their hardest to stop the Union. That by itself should say something. They hired an expensive law firm. Tore down the employee bulletin boards. Are translating to all languages. Peppering the hallways with their message. Have put out hot lines to Steve Hiese VP of Human Resources, and Erin “tribal” Thomas, Director of Employee Relations, for so called honest, open answers. Anyone believe this? How much truthful or accurate information do you think you will get in those two offices? We would guess about the same amount of honesty and openness you get with Foxnet.

It is your responsibility to not be swayed by misinformation and get the real facts.

Have to agree with this one. The problem is the misinformation is coming from management itself. We endure it every day. The very memo on this page that we are addressing is an example of the misinformation management churns out on a daily basis.

No Union can guarantee improvements.

Let’s cut and paste from a previous answer.
Their modest promise has centered around helping the employees form a Union. If the employees do that, then the Union will help the employees negotiate a better future here at Foxwoods. What is wrong with a deal like that?
Management does offers a guarantee. An iron clad one. “More of the same.” More pay, benefit, and bonus cuts, no employee voice, worsening food in the café, less vacation time, less flexible scheduling, managed toke rate. The list could go on and on and has in these pages.
It’s time we stopped the list from growing and reversed its direction.

We strongly encourage you not to sign the cards as it could impact you without you fully realizing it.

Again the implication is we could get the Union without a vote. So? The employee response would be dancing in the aisles.
Or then again the implication could be darker….
“Strongly encourage” seems a forceful way to try to convince us. Something along the lines of “you could get fired if you sign”. Nah, Foxwoods would never do that. In fact they couldn’t say that. It would be illegal.

With a Union no changes in current wage, benefit or other practices occur unless the employer agrees.

Another half true statement. They forget to add that no changes can occur without Union approval either. So that would mean the end of managements cut of the month club. No more arbitrary cuts by management that the employee has no say in. Now our voice will be heard. Right now changes occur all the time and are always detrimental to the employee.

Negotiations are a very risky process. No one - including the Union - can predict the outcome.

However management goes on in the next statement to do just that.

Everything, including the things you like most about working here could be at risk.

Without a Union these things are at risk daily and you will have no say in how they are taken away. And one by one they are being taken away. It is easy to see. If you are new, ask someone with a low badge #, “Are things getting better or worse at Foxwoods?” “Do you want the Union?”

The fact is that with a Union , you could lose benefits as easily as gain them through good faith bargaining.

Yes that could happen. Pigs could fly too. Without a Union we are guaranteed to lose benefits. With a Union we have the means to fight for what we deserve. As far as losing benefits, the Union certainly won’t be pushing for that.
Then it must be the other party in this negotiation who would be pushing for losing benefits. The other party is management. Are they announcing their “good faith” bargaining position?

There is a lot the Union will not tell you and does not necessarily want you to know about the consequences of unionization- such as union dues, assessments, fees, fines, etc.

There will be monthly Union dues equal to about 2 hours or less of your pay.
Present employees would not pay assessments.

After all this, you the employee have the right and obligation to make a decision. We ask that all employees get involved. Tell your co workers this site is still operating. Ask questions and get answers. A few last items to think about.

The tribe and 4^th floor have spent a lot of time and money to oppose the employees forming a Union. Do you think they do this with our best interests in mind? In spending all this time and money, what is their goal? What do they hope to accomplish ? Who are they really trying to protect, them or us? From What?

We all know what we have with management. We have massive evidence of their track record. It’s time to try another way.

06-01-07

We have been hearing a lot lately about our “best interest” from the tribe and 4^th floor. Like a Union would not be in our “best interest“. Signing a Union card would not be in our “best interest”. Having our concerns brought forward with a unified voice that could not be ignored would not be in our “best interest”. Having Foxnet pick and choose which questions and concerns get posted and answered is in our “best interest”. Having what they call excessive vacation time rescinded because we can’t use it, because they won’t approve it, is in our “best interest”. Cutting our benefits, bonus, and pay is in our “best interest”. Being forced to inhale vast amounts of cigarette smoke for eight hours a day in the last public place in Connecticut that allows it, is in our “best interest”.

All this professed concern about our “best interest” is truly heartwarming. It really does make you feel warm and fuzzy inside. But warm and fuzzy doesn’t pay the bills and neither does Foxwoods, when it acts in our so called “best interest”.

The tribe also believes the employee should speak for themselves and not involve a third party. But the third party is a fiction. The employees are the Union. So we have management on one side and the employees joined together in a Union on the other. Where is the third party?

So go ahead and take managements advice and speak, tell your EGC rep to bring your concerns forward. Oops, the company fired them. Well then, write to Foxnet. Oops again, they only answer the posts they like. The vast majority never see the light of day. And the answers they do give sometime don’t even answer the question asked. Can you feel things getting better already? No? Neither do we. This company has had fifteen years to get things right. They have failed miserably. In fact things are getting worse at an ever quicker pace. This company is completely incapable of doing the right thing by their employees. There is no way this company is going to listen to or address employee concerns without the employees raising their voices in unison. And the way to do that is to join together and form a Union.

So the company is against the employees getting together and forming a Union. How surprising. Of course anything that would benefit the employee would be opposed by Foxwoods. So they put out a position paper on what they think about Unions. Lets take a look at it. But first a big thank you to our management team for writing the memo. They have now made sure every employee knows the Union is here.

The small type is what Foxwoods says in their memo Titled “MPTN Position on Unions”. The large type is our response to it.

“MPTN Position on Unions”

“The Mashantucket Pequot Tribe is a federally recognized Indian tribe and has established tribal laws, policies and procedures governing most areas of employment within the tribal organization.”

And every one of these “tribal laws, policies, and procedures” benefits only the employer. The employee is left defenseless and at the mercy of these constantly changing rules.

“It is our position that the federal laws permitting union activity do not apply to either the state or tribal governments.”

That “position” is wrong and they know it. Federal laws and the NLRB(National Labor Relations Board) rulings clearly do apply to Foxwoods. And these rulings have made it clear that the employees can organize a Union if they so choose. If these rulings did not apply to Foxwoods then they would not bother to state it. They would just ignore it. This statement is made to confuse the employees. Don’t fall for it.

“Nevertheless, our employees have been subject to certain union-organizing activities.”

Subject to? That is a misleading phrase. The employees have actively sought out Union help in organizing, and will continue to do so.

“It is important to us, as both a sovereign government and as an employer, to share with you our belief that a union is not in the best interests of our employees or of the Tribe, and the reasoning behind our decision not to recognize such activity on our lands.”

Here we get a little truth. It would definitely not be it the Tribes best interest to have to work with a Union. The same however cannot be said about the employees best interest. The employees best interest would indeed be best served by a Union contract that could not be changed at the whim of management. Changes that always go against the employees. Again we get the deception that it is in the Tribes power to recognize or not recognize Union activity on Tribal land. That decision has already been made in Washington. Washington says we can. Who are we going to listen to?

“We believe that the Tribe is in the best position to address the needs of our employees and to continue our practice of direct and open communication between management and employees.”

The same Tribe that has continually cut wages and benefits at every turn for years and especially in the last couple. The same Tribe that thinks one and two cent an hour raises are in the employees best interests. The same Tribe that thinks “direct and open communication” means they talk and we listen. They cut and we suffer.

“We have traditionally communicated with our employees informally and directly.”

Again, they talk, we listen. Communication is not a two way street at Foxwoods.

“Collective bargaining through unions is foreign to our tradition.”

Foreign to their tradition of “we don’t negotiate, we dictate“, or not to sound repetitive, they talk, we listen.

“It emphasizes the differing interests of employers and employees and formalizes conflict, rather than cooperation.”

Quite the contrary, it brings the employees and employers together in a common goal of ensuring that everyone is happy with workplace conditions, not just employers. Now the employer has a real incentive to keep the employee happy, and the workplace running smoothly.

“We further believe that many of the specific organized labor activities are detrimental to our employees, our employer-employee relationship, and to the successful operation of our organization.”

Specific organized labor activities are detrimental? Such as respect for employees, work rules that don’t change daily, having seniority count for something, real pay raises, real job security, and unbiased employee relations? The employer-employee relationship is the worst it has ever been, with the employer constantly finding new ways to beat down the employee. And as far as the “successful operation of our organization”, is that what you call the ongoing and accelerating monthly revenue shortfalls? Real success would show the opposite. The only thing increasing at Foxwoods is the amount of excuses by the 4th floor, the blaming of the front line employees, and continuing cutbacks for patrons. This is what the 4th floor calls “Successful operation of our organization.” If we have much more of this kind of success, it’s goodbye Foxwoods.

“For example:

1. We do not believe any employee should be forced to pay dues or fees to a union just to keep their job. We provide our employees with employment opportunities, not the union.”

Forced? We are going to vote for and welcome in a Union. Dues are what the Union needs to stay strong and independent from management. The small dues we pay will amount to a small fraction of the pay and benefits we will receive.

2. “Unions generally encourage employees to conduct themselves in a manner which is not in the best interests of our customers or employees.”

Right now the employees are unhappy and demoralized. Customer service is a joke. Is this the atmosphere we want to preserve? Is what we have now in the best interest of customers or employees?

“For instance, they may ask our employees to walk off their jobs or call out sick just to make a point.”

The point being we will not be treated the way you have been treating us for the past fifteen years.

“If we have workplace disruptions, there are other places for our customers to go.”

The customers know of these other places and are going there in record numbers.

“Less business here means that everyone suffers except the unions. This clearly does not create job security for our employees, it does just the opposite.”

Right now, the “less business here”, means everyone suffers except the 4^th floor. By the way 4^th floor, congratulations on your real 5% pay raises. And it was also good to hear your bonus would not be cut. How does our job security increase as revenue goes down? We could ask the slot attendants, but they were let go.

3. “How our employees feel about their jobs is important to us.”

Then you must have been aiming for depressed and demoralized. If so, you nailed it.

“We value and encourage their opinions and suggestions.”

That is why they have Foxnet. You can put in all the opinions and suggestions you like, and they will answer only the ones they like, at the same time claiming to answer them all.

“We try to provide a workplace environment based on trust and responsiveness.”

Ok, by a show of hands, who has trust in this management team?

How about their responsiveness to employee needs? Thought so, just the two gladatfoxwoods posters.

“This is best accomplished by direct communication without the intervention of a third party, such as a union, that focuses on dividing, rather than unifying.”

Again, we are back to “direct communication.” They talk, we listen. A Union would not divide the employees, it would unify them. That is the last thing our management team would want.

“Our pledge to you is quite simple.”

Another pledge and another empty promise. Just like the pay raise. Is there anyone left who believes in a management promise?

“We have and will continue to work hard at maintaining a positive work environment.”

Please stop working so hard. We can’t take it any longer.

“We understand our employees are essential to the quality of service we provide to our customers and are critical to our success.”

If you truly understood that, you would not of been enacting the pay and benefit cuts of recent years.

“Therefore, we are committed to providing exceptional benefits, competitive wages, and a safe and comfortable work environment that includes personal dignity, respect, and job security.”

ROFLOL! ( Rolling On the Floor, Laughing Out Loud)

This sentence says it all. If you truly made every management decision with this sentence in mind, we would not be in the mess we are in now. Instead it is just a stock statement you cut and paste to many documents and hope employees come to believe it through sheer repetition.

Does the safe and comfortable work environment include any ban on smoking in the Casino? Do you believe or have evidence that second hand smoke is “safe” for employees? Why do you insist on keeping the Casino the last outpost of smoking in the state of Connecticut?

“We will continue to listen to our employees and respond to their concerns,”

They listen and the response is to ignore or lie.

“rather than to the concerns of a union.”

Concerns of a Union are the same exact concerns of the employees, because the Union is the employees. The Union however cannot be ignored.

“We are dedicated to working together to keep our organization first and foremost in the eyes of both our employees and patrons.”

That ship has sailed. Lets hope a Union can stop the ship from sinking.

UPDATE: 3-30-07 So in the Day newspaper Mr. O’brien claims that “snow and ice” are to blame for the poor February slot revenues. Down almost 2% from last year. The Mohegan Sun had no such snow and ice to hurt their slot revenue. In fact they were up 9%. The Mohegan Sun gets snow removal and Foxwoods gets a snow job. In January the excuse for falling slot revenue was “one fewer weekend day” . Of course the Mohegan Sun numbers were up. It seems happy employees and patrons can make up for “one fewer weekend day”. Then in his “From the Top” or should it be “Over the Top” column in the Foxwoods Spirit Mr. O'brien claims “I think we were extremely fortunate to have such a mild, short-term winter season this year”. So which is it? Snow and ice, or mild, short-term winter? Or does he prefer to have it both ways? Like his so called pay raise, which is actually a pay cut for most employees. Or his taking the employee bonus and cutting it according to bogus accounting standards, and unverifiable benchmarks, and then forcing the employee to put what’s left into a 401(K) and calling it an “enhanced performance rewards program”. How can a smaller bonus be called an “Enhanced Reward”? Why not let the employee decide if that is where they want to spend what’s left of their bonus money. Maybe they would like to buy food for their family or perhaps be frivolous and spend it on his new and improved prescription drug plan. Now in the current Foxwoods Spirit, the headline reads “Foxwoods announces enhanced benefits and compensation”. Are there any employees left that buy into this fantasy? How about the Pequot Times front page “Giving is the theme of Foxwoods fifteenth anniversary.” They are giving $150 thousand to regional charities. So out of almost $2 million a day they make from just slots, not counting table games, food, or hotel revenue, they decide to make a big show of donating $150 thousand back to the local community. Big Deal. That represents less then $15 dollars per employee. In fact they cut more than that from the employees just last month. So in fact the employees are giving that amount and more, with the Casino keeping the difference. Here’s an idea, instead of coming up with creative excuses each month for declining revenue, and new monthly cutbacks for employees and patrons alike to make up for that continuing decline, how about using that creativity on getting our customers back and increasing revenue. We have said it before and will say it again, happy employees equal happy patrons. We will even contribute to the cause. We will give you all the excuses for the falling slot revenue in the coming months so you can focus on the bigger issues. March: We had one less hour in the month because of daylight savings time which negatively affected slot revenue. April: Because of Easter, many of our patrons were home with their families and that hurt out April numbers. May: Memorial day unfortunately fell on a Monday again this year and that caused our numbers to fall in May. June: Too much glare on the roads forced many of our patrons to turn back from traveling to the Casino. July: Cut fireworks budget down to one sparkler and charged patrons to watch. No one came, they were watching the free Mohegan show. Next year, no fee. So what do we have now? Employees who are mad, depressed, and completely demoralized. Customer service is in the gutter. How could it be otherwise? The employees know that management does not care about the patrons, the patrons know too. Management certainly doesn’t care about the employees, no details needed there, it’s now a known and accepted fact. All they care about now is squeezing every last penny they can from every rapidly declining source of revenue. What will Foxwoods do to find its way out of this self inflicted mess? They do what they always do. Hire a consultant! Pay someone huge amounts of money to tell them what they want to hear. “It’s the employee’s fault.” And so the employee must be subjected to another in a long string of “Customer Service” meetings. Eight hour mandatory “Customer Service” meetings. Eight long grueling hours. Eight hours to try and convince the employee population that the long and growing list of benefit cutbacks and pay cuts cleverly disguised to look like generous pay raises, should not in any way cause a decrease in customer service. Smile and be happy idiots, and the patrons will flock back to the Casino. To drop even bigger piles of money on the Tribe and management. Money they will tightly clutch in their scrooge like hands, not allowing so much as a crumb to fall back to employees or patrons. How can these people on the 4th floor be so creative with employee and patron cutbacks, and yet fall into the same old “force the employee into another customer service meeting” mentality? Do they really think it will work? You want “Customer Service”? You can’t force it out of people or intimidate them into it. And you sure can’t get it when the employee is always wondering what benefit or wage cut will befall them next month. Why not try something new? Like pay people what they are worth. You claim we are the best. Pay us the best. Stop looking for the lowest paid Casinos, in the lowest cost of living areas in the country, and comparing our wages with theirs. Realize we are located in one of the highest cost of living areas in the country. Get an insurance plan that works for the employees. One that pays, and on time, and not one that looks to nickel and dime us to death. Get rid of Unum, enough said there. Allow us to take the vacation time we earn. Give us all the vacation time you promise, instead of us having to accrue it hourly and out to 5 decimal places. That’s right, we now accrue vacation time out to 1/100,000th of an hour. Just so the Casino can rob the employee of a minute or two of vacation time a year. Let our service men and women accrue vacation and sick time while serving our country, it’s the right thing to do. It is unfortunate things have progressed to such a low point at what once was the largest and most profitable Casino in the world. To turn this around will require investments in employees, patrons, and the property itself. No evidence of this is to be found. And so the slide continues and accelerates. Way to go, Foxwoods.

UPDATE: 3-18-07 First of all, let start by saying CONGRATULATIONS to the Caesars Casino dealers in Atlantic City on their decision to unionize. Landslide vote.....572 to 128! GREAT JOB! Folks, thank you for all the well thought out, well versed and factual guestbook posts! And for all who are looking for a front page update on this website, we feel the guestbook posts are so strong right now, we urge you to please check out the guestbook. It is not a gripe site anymore. The guestbook is very informative and says just about everything we feel and believe in. Keep the posts comming in. Keep the facts comming. We will keep posting them.

UPDATE: 2-25-07......FOR YOUR ENJOYMENT, BUT SERIOUS!

When a devious management team once again tries to pull a fast one on its long suffering employees. Here we have a claimed 5% across the board raise that is anything but. If the Casino was interested in actually handing out raises a one line memo would be sufficient. Something along the lines of “Come March 2007 all paychecks will reflect a 5% increase.

But alas, we get multiple page memos with confusing statements, vague claims of being competitive, outright lies, and more happy talk of how we are the best in the industry and just so appreciated by management and the tribe.

The one bright spot in all this will be the entertainment value in watching the Casino issue memo after memo clarifying, rescinding, elaborating, backpedaling, and all manner of confusing statements intended to muddy the waters and guarantee no employee will be able to figure out what their pay should be or if in fact they got a raise at all.

Well done Foxwoods, you once again turned what should be a happy event into a demoralizing, energy sapping, slap to the head of your less and less loyal employees.

But what the heck, at least the Casino can tell the media how much it values and takes care of its employees as evidenced by its so called 5% rate increase. And that's what is really important in all this.