After Over a Month Of Striking, Employees Return To Two Detroit Casinos
The Michigan casino strike has been going on for over a month, but 2,100 employees are returning to two locations following the completion of a new contract. The strike, which began in the middle of October, led to lower revenue for the brick-and-mortar casinos. Not only that, Michigan online casinos saw a small month-to-month decrease in revenue.
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New Contract Leads To Employees Returning To Two Detroit Casinos
Following the introduction of a new contract, thousands of employees are returning to work at two Detroit casinos: Hollywood Casino at Greektown and MotorCity Casino Hotel.
According to PlayMichigan, the new contract will last 64 months and features a $3 raise that will expand to $5 throughout the contract and a workload reduction for housekeeping staff. And, with the threat of losing jobs to technology, the new contract provides healthcare and severance pay for employees that lose their jobs to tech, as well as mandatory training for any new technology-related positions.
Other benefits from the new contract include a paid holiday on Juneteenth and the implementation of a 401k employer matching program. The final session for the negotiating committee reportedly lasted over 24 hours.
The Detroit casino strike began on October 17, 2023, when 3,700 employees began looking for a new contract. Following 34 days of picketing, 2,100 employees will now return to work at the two casinos.
With employees returning to two Detroit casinos, it remains to be seen when MGM Grand Detroit will see its striking employees return. Because the agreement didn’t get a majority vote (despite positive votes from 600 union members), MGM Grand Detroit employees will continue picketing.
Michigan Casino Strike Resulted In Decreased Retail Revenue
The employee strike definitely had an impact on the three retail casinos in Detroit. MotorCity Casino Hotel, MGM Grand Detroit, and Hollywood Casino Greektown had a 19% year-over-year October decrease in gaming revenue.
The brick-and-mortar casino that saw the biggest drop was MGM Grand Detroit with 24.6% lower revenues from slot machines and table games compared to the rest of the year. The entire state also saw 19% lower tax revenue in comparison to the previous year.
While an increase in Michigan online casino activity would be expected following the strike, that wasn’t exactly the case in October 2023. The state’s iGaming apps brought in $160.3 million, a month-to-month drop of 3.7%. Michigan online casinos saw record revenue as recently as March of 2023, when the platforms brought in $171.8 million in revenue. Although the total state numbers were down from September, FanDuel Casino Michigan broke its monthly record. Additionally, the state is on pace to hit a yearly iGaming revenue record with $1.88 billion.
It’s possible that the ongoing Detroit casino employee strike could have had an effect on iGaming in the state. Recently, some picketing employees began urging Michigan bettors to boycott online casino platforms in the state like BetMGM Casino and FanDuel Casino. Once November’s numbers are released, it will be interesting to see if iGaming numbers see another decrease due to this suggestion.
Including Michigan online casinos, the U.S. currently has only five states with legal iGaming. These states include Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and West Virginia.
