On Monday November 9th Security personnel working at the Rivers Casino voted 38-35 Monday evening to oppose organizing under the International Union for Security, Police and Fire Professionals of America SPFPA.

On the surface as reported by local Pittsburgh newspapers you would think that the majority of casino security professionals making $9.50 per hour working at Rivers Casino in downtown Pittsburgh voted by a very small margin to oppose unionization, however the facts reveal a different picture.



What really took place according to Steve Maritas International Organizing Director for the SPFPA was that 38 casino security professionals and surveillance officers who the Rivers Casino demanded be included in this election to tilt the numbers in favor of them fell victim to Union-Busting FEAR and intimidation tactics outlined in the unfair labor charges filed with the National Labor Relations Board.

If the company Rivers Casino implies or gives the impression that if you vote in favor of unionization the company will possibly takeaway your free meals, parking privileges, your 401k plan, your preferred shift, reduce your wages and other benefits you now enjoy and that unionization will be futile...How would you vote? In favor of Unionization or Against Unionization?

Now add in the fact that the surveillance officers who make much more money are indirectly told that the $9.50 casino security officer can possibly take their jobs away from them if the union is voted in because of seniority rules (as reported by one of the Rivers Casino's surveillance officer to the union) what would you expect them to do?

Martin Jay Levitt, 1993, Confessions of a Union Buster said it best

Union busting is a field populated by bullies and built on deceit. A campaign against a union is an assault on individuals and a war on truth. As such, it is a war without honor. The only way to bust a union is to lie, distort, manipulate, threaten, and always, always attack.

"Rivers Casino Whole Campaign was built on FEAR" Stated Steve Maritas Organizing Director of the International Union, Security Police and Fire Professionals of America SPFPA."

The high priced law firm who was running this Union-Busting FEAR and Intimidation Campaign was the notorious Jackson and Lewis.

Whenever Jackson and Lewis is hired to conduct an anti-union campaign they immediately teach management what to do and say to their employees as in the case of Rivers Casino. One of the most effective Union-Busting tactics is to have your management personal conduct "captive audience meetings," better known as Psychological warfare captive audience meetings.

The United States Joint Chiefs of Staff defined psychological warfare more broadly stating Psychological warfare employs any weapon to influence the mind of the enemy. The weapons are psychological only in the effect they produce and not because of the weapons themselves."

Throughout this campaign Rivers Casino held daily meetings with 2 or 3 casino security professionals at a time feeding them misleading information half-truths and out right lies about unionization while gauging worker sympathies and FEARS to pressure these casino security professionals not to vote yes for the union. In this case 38 of these Rivers Casino officers fell victim to Jackson and Lewis Union-Busting tactics.

In the end based on the unfair labor charges and objections being filed by the union and the closeness of the vote there is no doubt in Steve Maritas' mind that in the end the results of this election will not be certified as predicted by Ed Fasulo, president and COO of Rivers Casino who also stated in a prepared statement that the organization would "continue to respect its employees' right to choose."



Steve Maritas in a rebuttal of Ed Fasulo statement stated "we hope Ed Fasulo honors his word because when this fight is done and over an a new election is ordered the Rivers Casino security professionals will have a second chance to Unionize and in my 30 plus years of organizing I never lost a second election!".

In the interim Maritas stated that "he is planning a series of informational picketing to inform the customers on the Union-Busting tactics used in this campaign by Rivers Casino. In addition he is also enlisting the help of the United Steelworkers USW union who are presently organizing the other departments at Rivers Casino as well as the AFL-CIO, SEIU, Teamsters, UAW and Unite-Here. "Pittsburgh is a Union Town and Rivers Casino will soon find that out. Stated Maritas.

Tags: Rivers Casino, Jackson and Lewis , Steve Maritas,SPFPA,Ed Fasulo, Union-Busting, Union Avoidance, Union Blogs, Casinos, Union Busting Tactics, AFL-CIO, SEIU, USW, Steelworkers, Teamsters, Unite-Here, uaw

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