Twin River workers threaten to strike
Casino’s food service employees upset over changes in health insurance plan
LINCOLN – Union food service workers at Twin River Casino say their employer unlawfully switched them to radically higher-cost health plans five months ago and now they’re threatening to go on strike unless management restores the benefits they had earlier.
About two thirds of Local 26 of Unite Here’s 340 bartenders, waiters, cooks, dishwashers and other foodservice personnel who work at Twin River Casino and Event Center announced their intentions at a rally yesterday outside the State House, where they displayed photographic blowups of affected workers.
“Today’s announcement is to give Twin River an opportunity to fix the problem,” said Jenna Karlin, vice president of Local 26. “We want them to restore the health insurance and to reimburse workers for what they’ve lost and to come to the bargaining table with an offer that respects the work these men and women do and provides them with affordable family health care.”
After a notification to union members about a month earlier, in January Twin River changed their United Health coverage to a different plan offered by the same company – without collective bargaining. The change took place four months before the union’s five-year collective bargaining agreement expired in April, a move the union contends violates federal fair labor practices.
The union responded with a formal complaint to the National Labor Relations Board. Karlin said the matter is pending.
As a result of the switch in health coverage, union members are paying far higher deductibles, co-pays and other out-of-pocket costs, according to Karlin.
The premium for family coverage rose sharply, to about $12,000 a year. Twin River still picks up the premium for individual coverage, but members are suddenly facing unexpected new costs for lab work, doctor visits, prescriptions, lab tests and medical procedures. Even with the higher premium,
those who pay for family coverage are also facing similar new costs.
“You name it, it went up,” said Karlin. “They’re getting bills in the mail that are hundreds, if not thousands of dollars, or people are delaying medical treatment because they can’t afford to get bills in the mail.”
Through its spokeswoman, Patti Doyle, Twin River declined to comment.
“We’re in contract negotiations and as a matter of rule we don’t comment publicly,” she said. “It’s not appropriate for us to do so.”
Union members say some deductibles increased more than a hundred percent since the changes went into effect.
Julie Procaccini, a banquet captain who has worked at Twin River for more than 10 years, says that since the company switched plans, she’s racked up about $1,000 in medical bills for co-pays and services that she has never had to pay for out of pocket previously.
For the first time, she’s getting bills for followup doctor’s visits, blood work and mammograms.
“To be faced with those kinds of costs now, it makes you wonder how much you can afford going forward,” said Procaccini. “We’re fed up, we’re here today to announce we’re fed up. The ball is in their court to fix the problem. They made this health care crisis and they need to fix it for the duration of the contract.”
Union member say Twin Rivers’ behavior isn’t just legally questionable, but an affront to workers because it comes at a time when, as Procaccini puts it, “they’re making money.” Thanks to a more accommodating legislative environment created by the General Assembly, Twin River’s share of annual gaming revenue has roughly doubled in the last seven years, reaching about $225 million, union leaders say.
Twin River is using the money to go on an expansion blitz. Earlier this month Twin River broke ground on a $25 million, 135-room hotel to be built adjacent to the flagship casino off the Louisquisset Pike. Plans are also in the works for a $75 million casino in Tiverton after voters, casting ballots in statewide and local referenda in November, approved the proposal, billed as a bulwark against competition from new casinos in Massachusetts.
“Twin River Casino unilaterally reduced healthcare coverage on January 1, despite years of growing casino revenue,” Unite Here said in a statement before the rally.
By switching food service workers to cheaper health plans, Twin River is essentially bankrolling its expansion on the backs of its most vulnerable workers, the union contends.
“We’re some of the lowest paid workers in the building,” Karlin said.
The vice president of Unite Here said the union will wait to see what Twin River does next before deciding how to respond. If the union does not see some progress on the health care issue at the bargaining table, members will convene to consider a strike vote, she said.