Three years after voting to join a union, dealers at the casino in Wynn Las Vegas late last week ratified a collective bargaining agreement, the first-ever union contract for dealers in Las Vegas.

With the contract, the 600 Wynn dealers, who are members of Transport Workers (TWU) Local 721, now have a voice on the job. They are no longer “at-will” employees who can be fired at any time, and management no longer has the ability to make arbitrary decisions and alter work policies on a whim.

TWU President James Little said:

This was a long and tough fight, but when we stick together we can win against big companies. This is a crucial step for the dealers at Wynn and workers in Las Vegas.

Dealers at Wynn and Caesars Palace withstood a massive anti-union effort by Las Vegas casino owners and voted to join TWU in 2007. But they soon  faced company opposition to signing a decent contract.

“We are so proud of our members for passing this historic vote with such a strong margin and extremely high voter participation,” said Kanie Kastroll, president of Local 721.

They have demonstrated that they truly understand the value of union protection, brotherhood and a labor contract.

The contract, which was approved by a 4–1 margin, includes grievance procedures and protections against terminations.

This article was originally posted on AFL-CIO Now Blog.

About the Author: James Parks had his first encounter with unions at Gannett’s newspaper in Cincinnati when his colleagues in the newsroom tried to organize a unit of The Newspaper Guild. He is a journalist by trade, and worked for newspapers in five different states before joining the AFL-CIO staff in 1990. His proudest career moment, though, was when he served, along with other union members and staff, as an official observer for South Africa’s first multiracial elections. Author photo by Joe Kekeris