A Profile of Pro-Union Casino Workers in Northern Nevada

Why workers unionize has been a topic of considerable debate for nearly one hundred and fifty years. Research, however, concerning the determinants of voting behavior has primarily been conducted during the last two decades. Up to now, little has been done to evaluate why workers in gaming may be pro-union, antiunion, or ambivalent. Using a data base containing survey data for 237 workers, Political beliefs towards unions may be the single most important factor in determining how a worker will vote. we fmd that pro-union workers are less satisfied with a variety of work dimensions and that they feel under more stress than other workers. We also find, contrary to evidence for other industries, that prounion workers view themselves as being as capable as their anti-union counterparts and that there are substantive differences, on average, between workers with strong views and those with moderate or ambivalent views with respect to unions. Unions are a major concern to managers in many industries. The reasons for this, summarized and discussed by Addison and Hirsch (1989), are self-evident in most cases. Most importantly, managers tend to feel that unions lower profits by (1) increasing direct labor costs through wage and benefit gains and (2) decreasing Gaming Research & Review Journal • Volume 2, Issue 2 • 1995 17 m a n a g e r i a l e f f e c t i v e n e s s t h r o u g h t h e i m p o s i t i o n o f w o r k r u l e s , g r i e v a n c e p r o c e d u r e s , s e n i o r i t y c r i t e r i a , a n d o t h e r c o n s t r a i n t s o n t h e m a n a g e r i a l d e c i s i o n p r o c e s s . U n i o n s i n N o r t h e r n N e v a d a h a v e n o t b e e n v e r y e f f e c t i v e i n o r g a n i z i n g c a s i n o w o r k e r s . O n l y C i r c u s C i r c u s c u r r e n t l y h a s a s t r o n g u n i o n p r e s e n c e . R e c e n t l y , h o w e v e r , t h e r e h a v e b e e n a n u m b e r o f u n i o n o r g a n i z a t i o n a t t e m p t s i n N o r t h e r n N e v a d a ( S e a l , 1 9 9 5 ) . F o r t h e s e r e a s o n s , u n d e r s t a n d i n g w h y s o m e w o r k e r s a r e p r o u n i o n a n d o t h e r s a r e n o t i s a n i m p o r t a n t g o a l f o r m a n a g e m e n t , a s w e l l a s f o r u n i o n o r g a n i z e r s . T h i s p a p e r o f f e r s a p r o f i l e o f p r o u n i o n a n d a n t i u n i o n w o r k e r s i n t h e g a m i n g i n d u s t r y i n N o r t h e r n N e v a d a . M a n y o f o u r r e s u l t s s u p p o r t p r e v i o u s r e s e a r c h f i n d i n g s i n o t h e r i n d u s t r i e s , y e t w e a l s o f m d s o m e i n f o r m a t i o n t h a t c o u l d n o t b e p r e d i c t e d b y p r e v i o u s w o r k .