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Hour-Twenties ...good for management, bad for Tahoe Dealers! |
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They are called hour-twenties. Management chooses the terminology "80/20." By whatever name people call it, we are overworked. Overworked employees are one of the reasons why Unions arose in the first place, also why Unions are needed at Lake Tahoe today. No other market in the state uses hour-twenties as its standard. Not one casino in Las Vegas works their dealers hour-twenties. So far, hour-twenties are for Lake Tahoe and Harrah's Reno only (read #72). It turns out that it is not unique to Lake Tahoe - it is a Harrah's cost-cutting policy. Our tips and jobs could be next. Hour-Twenties were imported from St. Louis with our current "representative." Here are the basics of how hour-twenties benefit Harrah's. For every twelve dealing spots, it requires 15 Dealers (3 on break) instead of every other casino that uses 16 Dealers (4 on break). Harrah's saves 1/16 on payroll. Estimating that each Dealer costs Harrah's $75 per shift between wages and benefits, divided among 15 Dealers, Harrah's saves only $5 on each of us by making us work hour-twenties. We are overworked each and every shift and save Harrah's just $5 apiece! If they continually do this to us to save money, will they pass up an opportunity to take amounts estimated to be in the millions of dollars per year out of our pockets by confiscating our tips for redistribution? Do you remember the abandoned drink coaster policy? Would that have come anywhere near saving the company $1 million per year? In light of Harrah's continuing cost-cutting policies, our tips are not safe! The Nevada Supreme Court hears the case on April 7. Hour-Twenties only benefit management! Hour-Twenty Meetings Here are arguments made during our hour-twenty "consequences" meetings for not using the successful Nevada casino standard of 60 minutes on, 20 minutes off which had been in place for generations here at Lake Tahoe. Correcting Management's Bad Assumption Management overlooked something obvious. We could make more money by going back to "hours," because we make more money when we are more enthusiastic. We have more fun, players have more fun, and they tip us more in the process! Management assumed that we would each lose money because there would be more people drawing from the toke pool. They did not factor the greater amounts that happier Dealers contribute. Shingle Springs Management suggested that the casino opening in Shingle Springs this fall will have a negative impact on our business and our tokes. They did not mention what this could do to our jobs! This is their opportunity to step forward with a legally binding guarantee that they will not layoff Dealers. Hiring More Dealers Management claimed that it would have to hire more Dealers to cover the extra shifts available. If they were truly representing Dealers, they would already have offered more shifts to current part-time employees before looking outside of the company to fill the shifts. Craps Dealers Management told Dealers who prefer Craps that there would be fewer shifts available on the game. Again, they left out some information. 1. Amount of actual Craps game time available for Dealers will not change. 2. Dealers on Craps would be dealing PURE CRAPS...no "cards hookup." 3. No more being stuck on the stick for 40 minutes while a BJ-only dealer gets a break. 4. If Management truly wants Craps Dealers to have more time on the game, why are they running another Craps school, bringing more people into the mix? Slow Shoulder Season Our current management overlooked the previous solution for our slower shoulder seasons. There used to be a system that made many of us very happy. It was called Company Convenience Leave of Absence. Why did they not mention this? Is it because CCLOA costs Harrah's more money than squeezing every minute out of Dealers by overworking us with hour-twenties? The Biggest Issues? Management told us that tokes and scheduling are our biggest issues. Why, then, has Harrah's not provided a guarantee that it will not seize our tips for redistribution? Harrah's has spent over 100 hours on this website, but apparently Harrah's has no time to spend on legitimate promises that our tips are safe! If Harrah's wants to commit itself to giving us the best schedules available, then why not offer more shifts to our Part-Time Dealers? Why not offer C.C.L.O.A. to those who would like to be scheduled extra time off during the slow season? Why not provide a schedule which has us on our games for only one hour, like it was here since the 1950's? U.S. Economic Recession Harrah's business in Lake Tahoe, throughout its incarnations, has survived all times quite well since the 1950's. There have been prosperous times, a President assassinated, men on the moon, wars, the 200th birthday of the U.S.A, the bombing of Harveys, a terrorist attack, and also recessions. During all of these times, Dealers at the Lake Tahoe properties did not work hour-twenties, recessions or not. Hour-twenties are simply not necessary for our well-being; they are detrimental to it. "Layers" As another reminder of her lack of legal ability to represent us, our newly promoted Director of Casino Operations (Congratulations!) mentioned that if she wanted approval to change the current situation, she would have to put it through "layers" above her. She is a good person, and she does her job well, but she is not legally our representative and has an inherent conflict of interest in her roles that are at odds with one another. Ultimately, she MUST follow the orders of the "layers," not us.
It is the upper "layers," especially TPG, that are the concern here.
TWU must follow OUR orders. That, friends, is how it works.
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