‘10 times worse than Katrina.’ Casinos not eligible for COVID-19 relief to pay employees.
A union that represents employees at three Coast casinos demanded on Thursday that casinos across the country pay staff members during the new coronavirus pandemic.
After Hurricane Katrina, 9/11 and other disasters, the casino industry paid employees while they were out of work, said Donald “D.” Taylor, Unite Here international president, in a virtual press conference Thursday.
“In all those cases, the casino industry stepped up,” he said, and he questioned why the casinos have stopped paying employees now when all the commercial casinos in the country are closed and people are out of work.
Taylor said, in many cases, casino companies have huge profits on hand and could cover employee salaries through the federal coronavirus relief programs.
However, companies that make 30% or more of their profits from casino gambling don’t qualify through the Paycheck Protection Program under CARES — the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act that helps businesses continue to pay employees. The American Gaming Association is working to change that so smaller casinos could get the same consideration as other businesses, said Bill Miller, president of the AGA.
On March 16, the Gaming Commission ordered that all Mississippi casinos close indefinitely, which put most of the 10,500 casino employees on the Coast and 16,500 employees statewide out of work.
The AGA estimates a two-month shutdown of Mississippi casinos will lead to $736 million in lost economic activity.
Unite Here represents 300,000 casino workers in the U.S. and Canada and some of the culinary and other staff members at Beau Rivage Resort & Casino, IP Casino and Harrah’s Gulf Coast in Biloxi.
Casino employees struggling
“I’m one of the lucky ones,” Jaron Ashley, a bartender who has worked at the Beau Rivage for 20 years and a Unite Here union member, said during the press conference. His wife is a nurse and continues to collect a paycheck, he said. He knows of others with two people in the family who work at the casinos and said, “Their situation is not good.”
Unemployment won’t cover the bills for him and a lot of others, he said.
The pain is shared by casino employees across the country, said Bob McDevitt, president of Unite Here Local 54 in Atlantic City. It’s going to take months before people begin returning to the casinos, hotels and restaurants, he said.
“A lot of our members aren’t going to go back to work for a very long time,” he said.
Marlene Patrick Cooper, president of Unite Here Local 23 for employees in New Orleans and Biloxi, said the coronavirus impact on employees is 10 times worse than Hurricane Katrina. She said the casinos choose to keep “their stockpile of cash” for the investors and shareholders and instead should pay their full-time and part-time workers during the entire closure.
“It’s just the right thing to do,” she said.
Casinos feeling the pain
“Right now we don’t know when our properties may be able to reopen,” Tony Rodio, CEO of Caesars Entertainment, parent company of Harrah’s Gulf Coast, said in a video from his home this week. The company was off to perhaps its best start this year, he said, before the coronavirus hit.
The 12 casino operators in South Mississippi started layoffs and furloughs, some immediately and others continuing checks for two weeks.
IP Casino and Scarlet Pearl Casino continued to pay their employees. But this week Boyd Gaming, parent company of IP Casino, announced it would place most of its employees on unpaid furlough effective April 11 and will continue to pay health plans until employees can return to work or until June 30.
Scarlet Pearl, which is family-owned, also furloughed employees this week. The company will continue to pay their benefits.
“This is by far the most difficult decision we have ever made,” said Keith Smith, president and CEO of Boyd Gaming. He said it was out of concern for its staff that it kept paying them through April 10.
“Implementing furloughs was a last resort for us,” he said, “but a necessary step to protect our company, especially given the current lack of visibility regarding property re-openings.”
The cuts went to the top of the company, with the top executives taking a significant salary cut and the board of directors working without compensation.
Tilman Fertitta, who owns Golden Nugget Casino in Biloxi, told Texas Monthly he’s withstood storms throughout his career, but his casino and restaurant empire may not survive the coronavirus.
MGM Resorts International has announced it has $3.9 billion cash on hand and will not accept any of the $2.2 billion in federal money from the stimulus package. The company said it will consider accepting the federal loan guarantees if the coronavirus keeps the casino industry closed for an extended amount of time.
Are you a casino worker affected by the shutdown? Email meperez@sunherald.com to share your story.
This story was originally published April 9, 2020 at 7:37 PM.
