‘It’s our lives.’ Scared MS Coast casino employees demand more COVID-19 protections
Some casino workers in Biloxi say they are afraid to come to work because of concerns over a lack of enforcement of social distancing guidelines and a lack of communication about co-workers who test positive.
After the state shutdown, Mississippi casinos re-opened May 21 with additional precautions such as hand sanitizer stations and social distancing modifications. Mask and temperature checks are required for casino employees, and they became mandatory for customers over the Fourth of July weekend.
Although casinos have taken new steps to protect the guests, employees who reached out to the Sun Herald say they want greater protections for themselves.
Two housekeepers who have both had COVID-19 told the Sun Herald they are scared of getting it again, and they are worried management isn’t being transparent when employees get the virus.
The two women are members of Unite Here Local 23, a union that represents 300,000 casino workers in the U.S. and Canada, including some of the culinary and other staff members at IP, Beau Rivage Resort & Casino, and Harrah’s Gulf Coast Casino in Biloxi.
So far, the union has independently confirmed 15 cases at two Biloxi casinos, 10 at the Beau Rivage and five at the IP Casino with more waiting on results. All five from the IP are housekeepers.
The union believes there’s even more cases.
“Workers are struggling with lack of enforcement of social distancing, inadequate PPE and fear of COVID outbreaks among the staff and guests,” Unite Here’s Leah Bailey told the Sun Herald. “Casinos have not done the contact tracing required to make sure employees that have come in contact with them have been tested.”
Two housekeepers have shared their stories with the Sun Herald, and testimony was heard Thursday morning at the Mississippi Gaming Commission meeting.
Commission hears complaints
Gaming Commission Chairman Al Hopkins said at Thursday’s meeting the commissioners received and studied the report from Unite Here outlining the concerns.
He said the three commissioners would discuss the report and, “will do what we can to make it as safe as possible.”
Unite Here is asking for four new guidelines from the Gaming Commission:
- Require daily room cleaning, consistent with safety standards in Las Vegas and Atlantic City.
- Stronger action to enforce existing safety guidelines, especially for social distancing and wearing masks
- Operators should improve contact tracing programs to inform workers within 24 hours or as quickly as possible when they may have been exposed to someone with COVID-19.
- Look to the recently enacted Nevada Senate Bill 4 as a model for safety standards for enhanced cleaning, handwashing, social distancing, masks, training, testing and contact tracing.
The report said Gaming Commission records show 12 inspections found casino patrons not wearing masks or wearing masks incorrectly between July 16 and Aug. 11 at Beau Rivage, IP Casino, and Harrah’s Gulf Coast Casino, the three casinos with employees represented by the union.
‘They had the right to know’
Batina Campbell began to feel sick the first week of June while she was cleaning one of the IP’s hotel rooms.
“Something just came over me, I just felt different,” she said. “I was lightheaded and started breathing funny.”
Campbell said she went to the doctor the following day and was told she had a severe sinus infection and to stay home for a couple days. She returned to work June 8.
On July 13, Campbell said she began feeling sick again and left work to go to the emergency room. The doctors ran tests, including for COVID-19, and told her she could return to work on the 15th.
Two days, later a security guard was checking temperatures at the door and hers showed a 100-degree fever.
“The security guard told me ‘It must be hot outside!’ and told me to go into work,” Campbell said.
She said she immediately told her supervisor that she had a bad headache and was sweating. Campbell said the supervisor gave her a BC powder and said she looked as though she had a fever.
Campbell finished her shift, and went home, where she found a letter in her mailbox that said she was positive for COVID-19.
She immediately called her employer, J&G Janitorial, which has a contract to clean rooms at the IP Casino. J&G notified the casino, and Campbell called coworker Carolyn Ford to let her know and to ask her to let their other coworkers know.
It was two days before a supervisor called Campbell and asked for a list of who she came into contact with. She believes the casino should have taken immediate action to let her coworkers know.
“It’s our lives, the workers are important,” Campbell said. “They had a right to know, and I think they need to do better. We were doing their job by calling others.”
“My biggest concern is other people. I’m a people person, I love me, but I don’t want to be put at risk for other people and the company.”
‘Our lives matter’
Ford has been with the IP Casino for 17 years. At 61, she said she loves her job and the people she works with.
That’s why she knew when Campbell called her, she felt she had to tell the other workers on their shift.
“I was shocked. I called about eight or nine of our workers and alerted them,” Ford said. “They hadn’t told us that she had it. If Batina had not told us she did, I don’t know if they ever would have. ”
Two days after Ford made those calls, she said the IP asked her and other coworkers to take COVID-19 tests. The company required employees to take two tests if they come into contact with the virus. Ford’s first test was negative.
On Wednesday, June 24, Ford took her second test. She said she was called and asked to report to work on Friday. She said no, that she was waiting on her second test result.
On Saturday morning, she found out she was positive for the virus.
“I was scared and angry,” Ford said. “If I were to go in there not knowing I had it I could have spread it. More than me and her (Campbell) have had it. We should know as soon as someone tests positive.”
In her statement provided to Unite Here, Ford said she immediately called her human resources representative about the results. She also told them who she had been in close contact with.
She said one of her coworkers wasn’t told to quarantine or be tested until a week after Ford called about her results.
“We should hear this from management, not another employee,” Ford said. “If no one is telling us, we don’t know what’s happening. Everyone could have it, we don’t know. We’re around people every day. We’re having to do our own contact tracing.”
The 61-year-old said that not only could she have given it to her coworkers, it could have spread to her family. She’s used to going to her sister’s house every Sunday for dinner, but hasn’t since contracting the virus.
“It’s important for them to tell us,” Ford said. “It’s our lives. Our lives matter.”
What’s required from casinos?
Casinos aren’t required to report positive cases of coronavirus among employees to the Mississippi Gaming Commission or Department of Health.
The Sun Herald reached out to Boyd Gaming, the IP’s parent company, with the employees’ concerns.
“We require that team members stay home from work if they feel sick, or have been in close contact with an infected individual. Team members who do so are eligible for paid time off,” said David Strow, who is director of communications for Boyd Gaming and is based out of Las Vegas.
“Due to extensive federal, state and local laws and regulations regarding privacy and other obligations, we do not publicly divulge details regarding alleged COVID-19 cases related to our customers or individual team members,” he said.
“If we are notified that a team member or patron has tested positive for COVID-19, we follow health officials’ guidance with respect to notifications and other appropriate precautions,” he said.
The Beau Rivage said it has financial and health precautions in place for employees who test positive. The casino offers free testing to employees and covers two weeks of pay if employees need to quarantine.
Mary Cracchiolo, spokesperson for the Beau Rivage, told the Sun Herald that if an employee does come into contact with someone who is positive, they are required to be tested before returning to work.
“We contact trace ourselves when an employee reports a positive test,” Cracchiolo said.
HIPAA laws
There are legal requirements that casinos and other businesses must follow when it comes to COVID-19 and any other illness.
Employers must keep employees’ health information confidential under the HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) and maintain a safe worksite under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), according to the Society for Human Resources Management.
Employers are limited in what they can ask about an employee’s illness and typically are only able to disclose that an employee is on leave of absence and not able to work.
“They are not being forthright about how many people are sick,” Bailey said. “We have found that information from people coming to us. We’ve asked for that, and they have not given it to us.
“We proposed contact tracing and work within HIPPA laws.”
The Centers for Disease Control says employers should inform workers who have been exposed to another employee who tested positive. But they need to maintain confidentiality as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“Workers deserve to come somewhere that they feel safe,” Bailey told the Sun Herald. “This is such a tense moment. These workers are frontline workers. They are coming to work and working hard jobs for not that much money.”
Unite Here held online press conferences in May to discuss precautions that should be in place for employees and customers before reopening casinos in Mississippi and nationwide.
One of the nearly 100 recommendations said: “Employers should inform employees who have had contact with individuals who have tested positive for or are suspected to have COVID-19, as well as their bargaining representative, that such contact has occurred and conduct appropriate contact tracing.”
‘Can’t afford to be sick’
Mike Jayes, a lead organizer for Unite Here, said one issue for IP workers is the casino does not offer additional paid time off during the pandemic, while the other casinos like the Beau Rivage and the Scarlet Pearl do.
If those workers have to quarantine or become sick, they have to use their own paid leave.
“A lot of these people are just thankful to have a job,” Jayes said. “A lot of people at the IP weren’t even called back. They’re not given money to stay home. With unemployment running out, it’s very costly to miss work.”
“It’s primarily people of color, women and parents,” Jayes said. “They are usually those with people depending on them.”
Jayes said additional paid leave is something the union has tried to negotiate with Boyd Gaming since before the reopening of the casinos, but it has been denied.
“People have shared that sometimes they have to look the other way when they don’t feel well, and that’s a dangerous situation.” Jayes said. “They can’t afford to be sick.”
Contract workers like Campbell also have no paid leave from the casinos. She paid all of her medical bills out of pocket, including trips to the emergency room.
United Here said that until more steps are taken to improve conditions for workers, they will continue to lobby for more safety precautions.
“We’re not at the point where people are safe yet, and we’re not going to stop until people are safe,” Bailey said.
The union continues to push for transparency in hopes the casinos will institute a faster process to allow employees to know when they’ve been exposed and will allow additional paid leave.
“We’re still pushing for that. They (Boyd) keep rejecting it,” Jayes said on the additional leave for IP employees. “Everything is an ongoing process. We got masks instituted, and that was from the help of our union. We’ll keep fighting.”
This story was originally published August 19, 2020 at 3:51 PM.
