MGM Springfield Workers Join NEJB!

On Monday October 8th over 900 gaming workers at MGM in Springfield, Massachusetts became members of the New England Joint Board through a card check neutrality agreement. With the certification the MGM workers become the first union resort and casino workers in Massachusetts since the Expanded Gaming Act was signed into law in 2011. MGM Springfield opened its doors on August 24th launching the careers of hundreds of new gaming workers and marking a new era in the history of the City of Springfield. The opening also marked the culmination of almost a decade’s worth of work by our union to ensure that good, union gaming jobs could come to Massachusetts.

The NEJB in coalition with Teamsters Local 404 began organizing months before the grand opening and signed up a vast majority of the nearly 1,000 gaming workers on the property. The organizing drive was characterized by the excitement and energy of hundreds of workers beginning their first careers in the union hospitality industry. With the opening, MGM Springfield becomes the first major hospitality industry employer in the City of Springfield and the Western Massachusetts region. The NEJB looks forward to ensuring that these new jobs become family sustaining careers that will be the basis for forming strong and prosperous working class communities throughout the region. With a strong and diverse negotiating committee, the NEJB is moving forward and preparing to negotiate a strong first contract.

The NEJB would like to thank UNITE HERE International Union and Locals 54 and 25 for their assistance and support throughout the organizing effort.