Diamond Casino and the Gaming Employees Union: Collective Bargaining Issues

Collective bargaining is an important tool in every setting where people need to formalize agreements. At work, organized groups come up with terms and conditions of engagements to make a deal that bind their discussions. Diamond Casino started its operations some five years ago. The company has a collective bargaining agreement with its unionized employees that has raised some issues for discussion.

Temporary Shift Supervisors

According to the current agreement, employees who are involved in the bargaining unit may temporarily work as shift supervisors (Lee, 2011). Diamond Casino interprets this to mean that such employees are not entitled to payment during such time and that they do not accumulate seniority. Article 10 of the current agreement stipulates clearly about rank in the organization. For one to become a member of the bargaining team, one has to be an employee first. It means that as an employee one has entitlements to all employee benefits including the payments. The bargaining agreement also confers upon the employees the seniority titles based on their rank at work. Another reason is that the length of time an employee has worked for the company determines the status of the individual (Donais, 2010). Thirdly, seniority also comes with age. The older the worker, the more senior he becomes at work. Therefore, the company is misinterpreting the constitution.

Employee Appearance

Employees are supposed to report to work in the right attire for their respective work (Boone, Kurtz, & Qualman, 2011). However, the employer does not have control over what the workers do to their bodies. Provided the employee wears the right clothing, well groomed and smart, he or she is fit for the duty. The union was right to pursue the matter concerning the earring by the security guard. The workers also have a right to demonstrate their membership to the union freely. If they choose to wear the pins from the union as a symbol of recognition for their group, it is not an offense.

The managers may have fears that the other staffs that are not unionized might join the union due to the advertisement by the unionized members. However, the number that is already unionized is over half the number of employees. There is no legal requirement that the managers do not understand about the union. Article 14 lays out the uniform requirements at the place of work (Suffield & Gannon, 2016).

Absenteeism and Turnover

The casino is a place of fun for people who there to play. A majority of these people get their time during the holidays to go to the casino. If the company does not have half of its employees when it is peak time, then the company may be suffering losses (Donais, 2010). According to the agreement, the employees are supposed to receive a double payment for working during the holidays. The union needs to carry out a thorough investigation concerning the issue.

The company needs to clarify how employees can choose to forfeit working on the days when they can get bonuses. The company can reorganize the staff working schedule around the holiday time so that some can rest while others report to work. It will reduce the staff turnover. The workers have been leaving because of the organization’s reaction to their absenteeism with punishment. The management should do an investigation to determine the cause and not just respond to the problem.

Work Done by Management

The company must be having a hierarchy structure. During hiring, the new staff needs to know their role and responsibility in the organization. Due to the length of time that the group has existed, there have been various promotions and hiring of new employees. The change in roles or advancement to higher positions does not make the employee a jack of all trades. The organization must have a structure that it can honor at all times.

The supervisors should not do the roles of the employees just because the organization is not hiring more staffs (Suffield & Gannon, 2016). The firm needs to replace those workers who have since left. The new employees should fully understand their duties. Using the supervisors to do bargaining unit work is like demeaning them before the junior employees. The junior workers may start making it a habit of being absent or forfeiting their duties because the supervisors will just do it. It may reduce the influence of the managers on the staff.

Meals and Overtime

According to the current contract, an employee has a right to one free meal during the regular shift and two paid breaks. During overtime, the employees get $7 allowance for meals. However, the allowance cannot accord them even a single meal at the casino restaurant. Some employees think that this benefit should become a voucher for a meal in the restaurant. The provision for overtime rate is in Article 23. The agreement states the length of time a worker should work to have an entitlement to the meal. It is a voluntary task first. However, if there are no volunteers, the firm may make them work overtime to meet operational requirements. Therefore, even an employee who works one hour overtime and the other one that works more hours than this are all entitled, but now not legally stated, to get the meal allowance (Suffield & Gannon, 2016).

As long as the company has overtime for its workers and has called upon them to be available for it, then they should have access to the meal allowance. However, the company should pay them the compensation according to the staff hours they put in the work. Employees who work more hours should get more pay. On the other hand, a payment voucher for the meals can also suffice the requirement. Employees who work for lesser hours should get a lighter and less expensive meal. The ones who work more hours should get a full meal voucher to the restaurant. It would be a better way of appreciating their efforts and will also solve the absenteeism problem to some extent (Suffield & Gannon, 2016). The assumption is that when the staffs are working overtime, they are doing so at the expense of their employer. Their presence at work shows their importance to the organization and that they bring value to it.

Maternity Leave

It is an international legal requirement that maternity leave should be granted to women as stipulated in the labor laws and other international framework policies. Diamond Casino should not treat it as company’s favor to its workers (Lee, 2011). The organization should not form laws and interpret them differently. The provincial employment standards legislation should guide the process and ensure that the company adheres to the laid out rules.

Future Developments

The maintenance and security departments serve the interests of the enterprise. The security department is critical to the safety of clients, staff, and the company’s property. Contracting the work out would be advisable because it will be transferring the risk to another entity. The professional security organizations would be more responsible than internal ones. It should be a full-time contract. It may lead to a few job losses (Donais, 2010).

The union should strive to ensure that the company takes the employees affected reassigns them other duties in the organization. However, for the maintenance department, the company needs to maintain the internal staffs. It can only train them on the requirements so that they do professional work. Contracting this workout will be expensive for the organization and might lead to infiltration by competitors. The company should retain the current status but ensure that the staffs are well remunerated and equipped with the needed tools for work.

The Union Business

The current standard is that the union elects stewards and officers to represent it before the employer. It is advisable that the union finds part people among these representatives who are not necessarily members of the organization. The reason is that they will help to neutralize any biased in the representation. In the issues raised, the company is trying to prevent union members from having all the benefits of employment. It could be that Diamond Casino management feels that the union has more powers than it deserves (Donais, 2010).

Cost Overview

The calculation for hourly payments up until the security contract can come into place reveals that there will be some increase in wages. In the first year, the company will be spending approximately $1.25 Million per hour. In the following year, it will increase to about $1.27 million. It will be $1.3 million for the third year. The security department is the only department that might undergo significant changes after contracting out the service.

The wages for the slot workers, dealers, finance and kitchen department will consistently continue to increase at the same rate it has been increasing yearly. The restaurant workers, maintenance, Information Technology, Purchasing and receiving, and office workers shall also increase on a yearly basis. The renewal of the agreement should take into consideration the prevailing issues.

References

Boone, L., Kurtz, D., & Qualman, E. (2011). Contemporary business (1st ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Custom Learning Solutions.

Donais, B. (2010). Engaging unionized employees (1st ed.). Aurora, Ontario: Canada Law Book.

Lee, G. (2011). Labor relations (1st ed.). New York, NY: Avalon Books.

Suffield, L. & Gannon, G. (2016). Labour relations (4th ed., pp. 322-332). Toronto, Canada: Pearson.