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After a nearly two-month strike, more than 200 workers at the Horseshoe Indianapolis casino in Shelbyville have voted to unionize.
The table game dealers and dual rate workers at the casino cast their votes on Friday after 50 days on the picket line to join the Teamsters Local 135.
The workers had originally planned to vote on unionization on Oct. 17, but that vote was delayed. The National Labor Relations Board oversees union elections and was closed due to the federal government shutdown.
“Let this be a message to every employer across the entire country: when working people lock arms, when they stand together in the cold and snow for something bigger than themselves, there is no force on this earth that can stop them,” Teamsters Local 135 President Dustin Roach said Friday in a post on social media. “Today they won this battle—and they will win the war for a first contract.”
Caesars Entertainment did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Inside INdiana Business. However, the company told WXIN-TV Channel 59 in Indianapolis that it will recognize the workers’ right to unionize.
“Caesars Entertainment values its long-standing relationship with labor unions, including those currently representing Team Members at Horseshoe Indianapolis,” the company said. “While the National Labor Relations Board has postponed this scheduled union vote due to the federal government shutdown, we remain committed to ensuring our Team Members can exercise their legally protected right to vote in a union election. We fully support the NLRB process and will continue to comply with all federal regulations We are proud of the workplace environment we’ve built and will respect and support our Team Members should they choose to pursue union representation through the federally recognized process.”
The union did not provide any indication of when it might begin negotiations on a labor contract for the newly unionized workers.
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