Hard Rock Rockford Casino Employees in Illinois Rally for Union Contract.
Last week, employees at the newly established Hard Rock Casino Rockford in Illinois pushed for a union contract.
In August, Hard Rock International inaugurated the nearly $360 million casino in Rockford, Illinois. Less than two months later, many of the casino’s roughly 900 employees are demanding a unionized contract.
Hard Rock International is owned by the Seminole Tribe of Florida. The entertainment, hospitality, and gaming behemoth has long rejected unionization efforts at its more than 300 hotels, casinos, Rock Shops, concert venues, and cafés worldwide.
Workers at Hard Rock’s Rockford location claim the firm is spending significantly on anti-union lawyers to keep casino employees from organizing.
Employees of Hard Rock Rockford, or “band members” as the firm affectionately refers to its workforce, gathered outside the casino on Friday.
Six unions coordinated the “Rally for Respect,” which included the United Auto Workers, Service Employees International Union, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, International Union of Operating Engineers, and Unite Here.
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Rallying Calls
Employees at Hard Rock Rockford who gathered for a union contract on Friday said their company should stop wasting money on efforts to prevent workers from organizing.
The workers are steadily organizing. “| We expect votes to come in over the following few months, but we’d like to save time and energy with the casino. We don’t want them to have to devote all of their time, money, and energy to breaking this up when it’s bound to happen,” Sara Dorner, president of Rockford United Labor, AFL-CIO, told the Rockford Register Star.
Three of the six unions mentioned above are AFL-CIO-affiliated. Dorner and other supporters of unionizing the Hard Rock Casino believe that a labor agreement will secure jobs and allow workers to seek higher wages and benefits in the coming years.
UAW Local 1268 President Matt Frantzen stated that the region’s union officials are available to the casino workers should they wish to organize and examine the potential of unionization.
“We are just here to help,” Frantzen remarked. “We have a coalition of six unions that aid in various industries, but we all work together.
Casino Comeback
Hard Rock Casino Rockford President Geno Iafrate said the corporation is open to talks with unions and trade groups.
According to the property manager, the Rockford casino is already in talks with local union representatives from Unite Here, Teamsters, and Operating Engineers. These discussions originate from the property’s valet drivers and warehouse workers having already voted to join unions.
During the $360 million casino’s construction, Hard Rock collaborated with multiple trade groups and over 1,200 union construction workers to make the project a reality. The contracting unions included the Northwestern Illinois Building and Construction Trades and the Illinois International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union 364.
The Hard Rock Rockford casino floor is 64,000 square feet and features 1,300 slot machines, 50 live dealer table games, a poker area, and a Hard Rock Sportsbook. The Hard Rock Live music venue can accommodate 2,000 people.
The hotel also has meeting space, a Rock Shop retail outlet, and six restaurants and bars. The casino does not provide on-site lodging, although it has various relationships with adjacent hotels.
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