Deliberate Support Discrimination NORTH AMERICA


US - Unions demand full wages UNITE HERE union leaders from Las Vegas, Atlantic City, and the Louisiana/Mississippi Gulf Coast have demanded that major casino companies pay all of their workers for the full duration of COVID-19 closures that have shuttered casinos across the country.


While some casino companies, such as Wynn Resorts and the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas have committed to paying their employees, executives at other major casino companies, owned by billionaires or multi- billion-dollar institutional investors, are failing at this moment when their leadership is most needed by not similarly looking out for their employees’ financial well-being during a time of national crisis.


“These big casino companies like to talk about loyalty and corporate social responsibility, but they are sacrificing their employees to preserve their cash hordes when we are in one of the greatest crises we have ever experienced as an industry and as a nation,” said D. Taylor, President of UNITE HERE the hospitality workers’ union, which represents 300,000 workers in the US and Canada. “Shareholders and executives always get paid, but we believe the social compact between casinos and their host communities has always been based on providing for your employees so everyone gets lifted up. The question of money is not the issue—the question of will, is. The gaming industry should pay people during this shutdown. It’s time to do right by the workers.”


MGM Resorts, the largest private-sector employer in the state of Nevada, announced it would pay its employees no more than one extra biweekly paycheck after it closed its casino resorts on the Las Vegas Strip on March 17. It made the same decision for its casinos elsewhere in the U.S., including Atlantic City, Detroit, and Biloxi. MGM currently has approximately $3.9bn cash on hand. The company has approximately 70,000 employees in the U.S.


Caesars Entertainment, which is in the process of completing a $17.3bn merger with Eldorado Resorts, is the largest casino operator in Atlantic City and the second largest on the Las Vegas Strip. It has refused to pay anything beyond two weeks to its employees after its casinos were closed in Las Vegas, Atlantic, and 12 other jurisdictions. Caesars currently has $2.8 billion of cash on hand with approximately 64,000 employees in the US.


In the Gulf Coast region, MGM operates the largest casino in Mississippi in its Beau Rivage property in Biloxi, and Caesars operates the largest casino in the Crescent City, Harrah’s New Orleans. The companies are both not paying workers anything more than one additional paycheck after the casinos’ closures in mid- March.


Other major casino companies which have chosen not to pay their employees through the government- mandate shutdown include Boyd Gaming, Penn National, Golden Entertainment, and Golden Nugget Casinos. There are also several billionaires who own major casinos and have not paid workers anything after closure, including Alex Meruelo, Phil Ruffin, and David A. Siegel.


P20 NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / MARKET DATA Te American Gaming Association’s President, Bill Miller, welcomes the added


protection being provided by the US Government for small businesses across the United States, but says it still falls 'woefully short'


“Te AGA will continue to strongly advocate for relief that supports the displaced gaming workforce and gaming companies of all sizes through this crisis.”


WASHINGTON LEGISLATION


American Gaming Association President and CEO, Bill Miller, welcomed the revised interim regulatory guidelines that the Small Business Administration issued for the Paycheck Protection Program saying they showed 'some progress' but fell 'woefully short of fully addressing antiquated, discriminatory policies.'


“Te Small Business Administration (SBA) released revised regulatory guidelines that will allow additional small businesses that derive revenue from legal gaming to participate in the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). While these changes represent some progress, they fall woefully short of fully addressing antiquated, discriminatory policies that have, to date, restricted small gaming companies from accessing critical loan support made available through the CARES Act. As a result of this half- measure, small gaming businesses that have closed to comply with government orders will continue to be denied access to this critical lifeline to support their employees.


“Te American Gaming Association (AGA) is grateful for the leadership of a significant group of bipartisan, bicameral members of Congress who have advocated tirelessly for equal treatment of small commercial and tribal


Stars flock to support MGM staff during coronavirus pandemic


Nevada


MGM Resorts has recognised the support of many of its entertainment partners who generously donated to the company’s Employee Emergency Grant Fund in support of those impacted economically by the coronavirus pandemic.


David Copperfield, Jay Leno, Bill Maher, Kathleen Madigan, David Spade, Boyz II Men, Brad Garrett, Carrot Top, Terry Fator, Ray Romano, Jabbawockeez, Shin Lim, Tunder from Down Under, Hans Klok, Australian Bee Gees, Fantasy and Bill Blumenreich Presents each showed their support for the MGM Resorts family with a donation to the fund.


gaming operations in their communities. As Congress seeks to put additional resources behind the PPP, we look forward to working with them to make it clear that ‘we are all in this together’ by rejecting the SBA’s dangerous view that gaming employees don’t deserve assistance during this unprecedented crisis.


Early in April, the AGA wrote to President Trump regarding the Paycheck Protection Program. Dozens of bipartisan members of Congress also called the administration and wrote letters regarding gaming’s exclusion from the program. Casino gaming is vital to local small businesses, supporting 350,000 small business jobs and delivering $52bn annually in small business revenue, including construction, manufacturing, retail, and wholesale firms. All 989 commercial and tribal casino properties have shuttered their doors because of the COVID-19 pandemic. More than half of the 1.8 million jobs gaming supports are at non-gaming businesses, such as restaurants and local shops, which are all dramatically affected by a local casino’s closure. In many states, gaming pays among the highest tax rates of any industry with $10.7bn in gaming taxes and tribal revenue share payments that support fundamental and critical programmes from infrastructure to education.


“During these difficult and uncertain days, weeks and months, we are working tirelessly to support the tens of thousands of employees who were furloughed or laid off due to the closures of our properties across the country,” said Bill Hornbuckle, MGM Resorts’ Acting CEO and President. “We are incredibly humbled by the support of our entertainment partners, who have come together to assist the people who, during normal times, are committed to creating incredible experiences for our guests.”


Mr. Hornbuckle added: "With donations from this extraordinary line-up of entertainers, commitments from MGM Resorts and its leadership team, our own employees, and a number of other generous contributions, we have already raised approximately US$11m.”


Washington DC


Politicians in Washington DC has delayed the launch of a mobile sports betting app until US sports are being played again. Te Office of Lottery and Gaming was due to launch a platform called GambetDC from Intralot on March 31. Nicole Jordan, director of marketing and communications for the lottery said: “We are revising our sports wagering launch strategy based on the current state of world events. Te Lottery and Intralot are prepared to launch the platform when it is safe for the sports world to return. GambetDC, the sports betting platform powered by the DC Lottery, is tested and ready to go live. At this time, almost all sports leagues around the world have suspended play indefinitely due to growing concerns around the COVID-19 virus and, as a consequence, there are little-to- no games or bets to offer.”


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