Workers will Gather to Make Picket Signs and Plan Weekend Walkout

What: Riverboat Worker Sign-Making & Strike Prep Day

Who: Northwest Indiana Riverboat workers

When Wednesday, January 12th at 11 a.m.

Where: UNITE HERE Local 1, 602 W. Chicago Ave., East Chicago, IN

East Chicago, IN-As negotiations continue at area riverboat casinos, workers are preparing for a possible weekend walkout.

Riverboat workers from Harrah’s East Chicago, Majestic Star, Trump and Blue Chip Casinos and Buffington Harbor Pavilion will gather on Wednesday morning to make picket signs and prepare for strike logistics.

“It’s a shame to have to go on strike just to be able to support our families,” says Lisa Taylor, a Harrah’s housekeeper who has enrolled her son on Hoosier Healthwise. “But we’ll do whatever it takes to make these casinos live up to the promise of good jobs for our community.”

Members of UNITE HERE Local 1 voted by a 93% margin to authorize their negotiating committee to call a strike if necessary. Union members are prepared to walk off the job during the upcoming Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend unless new contracts can be reached. Local 1 represents 850 workers at the area casinos.

Customers and community members can get the latest updates on negotiations and strike preparations by calling the Riverboat Strike Hotline at 1-888-656-4373