MGM Resorts Reaches Agreement Covering Nearly 21,000 Employees

Members of Culinary Union Local 226 and the Bartenders Union Local 165 voted in late November to ratify a five year contract with MGM Resorts.

According to a union press release, the contract covering various food and beverage workers, guest room attendants, bell department, porters and others was ratified by 97 percent of employees voting in favor.

MGM Resorts was the first of any strip company to reach a new agreement with these unions. The covered properties include Aria, Bellagio, The Mirage, Monte Carol and New York – New York hotel.

While the contract directly covers 21,000 employees, certain economic provisions in the contract will be applied to an additional 5,000 employees at other properties.

Corey Sanders, Chief Operating Officer for MGM Resorts, said the parties achieved a “smart contract, one that charts our Company’s future growth with the Unions.”

The contract will replace the prior agreement which expired in June of 2013.

Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Employees Ratify Agreement with the Utah Transit Authority (UTA)

Employees represented by the ATU voted 89 percent in favor of a new collective bargaining agreement in late November, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.

The agreement raises wages by two percent on December 10, 2013 and provides future increases between one and two percent every six months through 2016. In addition, employees will receive a two percent bonus based on their annual pay.

According to the ATU, the new agreement adds $1 million into the employees’ heath trust fund.

The news of the agreement came in the wake of a story published by the Salt Lake Tribute claiming UTA executives split $750,000 in bonuses last year and that overall compensation for executives at UTA was high compared to other transit agencies.

BART Reaches Agreement with its Unions; Possible Lawsuit is Pending

Alicia Trost, a spokeswoman for the commuter railroad BART in San Francisco, called 2013 a “rough year for BART and its riders.”

In November, management achieved four year agreements with its two largest unions, SEIU and ATU.

 Earlier this year, however, employees went on two separate strikes, a four and a half day strike in July and a shorter strike in October.

According to BART, the new contract will require employees to begin contributing to their pension fund with 1% in the first year of the agreement to 4% in the last year. Previously, employees did not contribute toward their pension. Under the new contract employees will pay more in health care contributions as well.

The agreement also increased the number of years it takes for an employee to be fully vested for retiree medical benefits from 5 to 15.

Wages will increase 15.38% over the course of the agreement. According to BART, the increase “is in line with what other public sector employees have been given in recent contracts.”

Work rule changes affecting scheduling, attendance and overtime were also included in the agreement. Management states the changes will give BART better control over these provision and close important money-losing loopholes.

After the deal was ratified by membership, a mistake was noticed; a provision which offers six weeks of paid leave was, according to BART, “mistakenly” written in to the contract. The BART board of Directors voted to remove the provision.

SEIU and ATU are claiming the board must approve the totality of the package and cannot exclude a particular provision. It is still unclear what action, if any, the unions will take, but, according to a CBS article published on December 2, 2013, the unions said “they could file an unfair labor practice lawsuit as early as this week.”