Bally’s Twin River Casino employees in Lincoln who are members of UNITE HERE Local 26 are holding a strike vote today. Voting will be open for 12 hours at a Strike Campaign Headquarters less than a mile from Bally's, where workers have signed up to cast their ballots during designated time slots.
Uprise RI spoke with Valerie Costa, a bartender and union members at Bally's in Lincoln, who had her hours reduced from a five to one day a week. She has also not seen a pay raise in over nine years.
"I'm picking up other work to cover expenses," said Costa, who has three children. "We have my husband's job, but it isn't enough. I even had to switch our family's healthcare to my husband job, which isn't as good as the one at Bally's."
Since the end of the most recent wave of Covid, business at Bally's has returned to pre-pandemic levels, say workers. But Bally's has only called back around 40% staff. This means that those who are back at work are working twice as hard.
The union contract at Bally’s Twin River Casino expires on July 1, 2022, and the workers have two key demands:
- Increased staffing and more full time schedules; and,
- wage increases that match the rising costs of living.
More than 200 workers have pledged to strike as soon as July 1st if Bally’s and the union do not reach an agreement that resolves these issues.