Having a union and a having a written, legally binding contract have made a real difference in the lives of so many of our coworkers.  There are too many to fit in this article, but here are some highlights:

• Last year, Jennie Langlois was diagnosed with breast cancer. She was forced back to work last November, before radiation treatment began, after Foxwoods notified her that her 6-month medical leave had run out. Our contract now extends medical leave up to a full year. As a result, Jennie has just taken additional medical leave for follow-up surgery.

• Dolly Craine suffers from chronic pain from two hip replacements. Dolly asked management to schedule her to work in the Rainmaker so she would not have to walk up and down stairs on the Tower side. Management asked her to get a doctor's note. She got the note and management still denied her request. With help from a union steward, she was granted the accommodation.

• Gary Li is one of the nicest and gentlest dealers you will ever meet. In January, Gary was fired when he was falsely accused for being "rude and discourteous" to a drunk, abusive player at his table. Many of us couldn't believe it when we heard what happened to Gary. Our union fought back. After we demanded arbitration, management agreed to bring Gary back to work.

• Tony Irwin's craps ranking was downgraded with no notice from management, making him unable to pick up shifts to improve his craps skills. The Union grieved this, and management agreed to restore Tony's ranking and also agreed to schedule him regularly on craps tables so he could improve his skills.

• Sue Barton, a 12-year dealer, was suspended pending in March because UNUM wrongfully denied her medical leave. The Union quickly got the suspension rescinded and got Sue eleven days of back pay.

• As a casual dealer, Stanley Chieka was without health coverage for 2 ½ years. He put off check-ups because he couldn't afford it, and spent thousands of dollars for a knee injury and on other health issues. Because of our contract, Stanley was finally promoted in May to regular part-time with benefits. Over 50 dealers have been promoted to benefited positions or dual rate since the contract took effect at the end of January.

• Jason Vacca had to call out of work because sewage was pouring into his home after the March, 2010 flood in Rhode Island. Management suspended him for points. Our union was successful in getting management to put him back to work, and is currently seeking arbitration to get the back pay he lost as a result of the suspension.

• Madeline Soccia has a workers compensation case for a wrist injury. She was swiped out by management when she asked to see the nurse, and then suspended because this put her over 8 points. Our union won her reinstatement, back pay and removal of the half point. And, we brought a TOSHA complaint against management for retaliation, which we expect will soon result in compliance action against management.

Setting the record straight on the 401k