“A contract of this significance makes me feel proud to work in Detroit’s casinos once again,” Alicia Weaver, a guest room attendant at MGM Casino, said in a statement.

The casino workers' strike has coincided with the UAW's Stand Up Strike among autoworkers and the ongoing strike by 1,000-plus UAW members employed with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. The Detroit Casino Council is composed of five unions: UNITE HERE Local 24, UAW, Teamsters Local 1038, Operating Engineers Local 324 and the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters. Tax revenue from the three casinos is a major source of revenue for the city of Detroit's budget. The casino council previously agreed to 3% in total wage increases from 2020 to 2023 - a period of high inflation - as an extension to a five-year contract that started in 2015. They also contended that work in the Detroit casinos had lost its former status as one of the better-paying service industry jobs. The casino unions went into negotiations seeking significant wage increases that they described as just rewards for workers for making financial and personal sacrifices during the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, the unions have urged casino patrons to stay home and not cross their picket lines and not use the casinos' online gambling apps. The three casinos have relied on casino managers to stay open. 17 after an extension to their previous contract expired. The council said it won't publicly disclose full details of what's in the agreement until members have a chance to vote on it.

It calls for immediate 18% pay raises on average, according to the council, as well as no cost increases for health care, workload reductions and other job protections. The council hailed the agreement as containing the largest negotiated wage increases for Detroit casino workers since the three casinos opened between 19. The ratification votes by each union are expected to happen 'soon,' the council said in a news release, although precisely how soon remained unclear. The workers will continue to strike until the agreement has been ratified. Workers at all three of Detroit’s casinos including the MGM Grand Detroit and the Hollywood Casino at Greektown went on strike at noon. Strikers march and protest in front of the MotorCity Casino Hotel in Detroit on Tuesday, October 17, 2023.

Detroit casinos history