UNI Americas Gaming Sector Bulletin

Veröffentlicht: 23 März 2009
Google translate: 
No 07 - MARCH 2008




Argentina-ALEARA WANTS SLOTS IN BUENOS AIRES BINGO-BALLS


Dominican Republic-DOMINICAN SENATE HALTS INCREASE IN GAMBING TAXES


Panama-WORKING CONDITIONS: THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COIN IN PANAMA´S GAMING INDUSTRY


Jamaica-JAMAICA GOVERNMENT TABLES MINISTRY PAPER ON CASINO GAMING. THE PROJECTS ARE EXPECTED TO EMPLOY APPROXIMATELY 25,000 WORKERS


Panama-UNI-Americas condemns dismissals in Panama´s gaming industry


Paraguay-Paraguayan authorities search Repsur gaming company
Argentina’s Trade Union of Gaming, Entertainment, Recreation, Leisure and Allied Workers (ALEARA) and the Union of Tourist, Hotel and Gastronomy Workers (UTHGRA) have warned that the five bingo-halls operating in the city of Buenos Aires might have to close down “in the short run” given their harsh economic situation. For their part, the sector’s entrepreneurs want to install slot machines in their gaming arcades.



ALEARA is currently in a “state of alert” and both trade unions have expressed their “deep concern for the continued employment” of the thousands of workers of the city’s five bingo-halls.



ALEARA’s Organising Secretary Ariel Fassione stressed that the bingo-halls’ senior managers are “currently going through such hard times that they will be forced to dramatically reduce their companies’ headcount or to close down in the short run.”



Fassione and UTHGRA Secretary José Luis Bordes stated that “the changes in bingo-players’ preferences have resulted in fewer visits to bingo-halls and the choice of other gambling modalities, mainly arcades operating slot machines.”



Therefore, bingo-hall businessmen and owners have requested the installation of slot machines in their facilities, considering it is “indispensable to permit the operation of a certain number of slot machines in every one of the city’s bingo-halls, particularly when their owners are willing to comply with the ‘one worker per machine’ provision, as laid down by the provincial legislation (Act 13.063).”


The Senate has temporarily halted the bill seeking to raise doctors’ and healthcare professionals’ wages by imposing taxes on lotteries, gaming and gambling agencies.





The Dominican Liberation Party Senators pointed out that the bill should be studied in deeper detail because of the sectors involved.



Dionis Sánchez, Senate Budget Committee Chairman, reported that the adoption of control measures by the General Directorate of Internal Taxes will provide the resources needed to meet the raise requested by the country’s Medical Association.


Even when the figures reported by Panama’s gaming industry are amazing, based on the amounts handled and their fast growth, the conditions in which gaming workers perform their duties, particularly in casinos and gaming halls, do not follow suit. Occupational stress is a core element of the gambling business, since the very win-lose-win-lose dynamics to which gamblers are exposed generally tends to put workers in a situation of high vulnerability, because they are often held responsible for most of such win-lose cycle. That is, gamblers tend to believe that it is gaming workers who determine when they will win or lose. Therefore, dealers are frequently victims of aggression, and their occupational skills and dexterity earn them insults and threats, which actually turn into physical attacks. Of course, it all happens in an environment where gamblers drink considerable amounts of alcohol. This makes workers even more likely to be victims of all kinds of aggressions.



The high level of stress to which gaming workers are subjected as a result of the huge and on-going pressure exerted by “the house” is made worse, no doubt, by the constant and excessive noise prevalent in casinos and gambling establishments. The exposure to high decibels for long periods, as it happens to gaming employees, causes hearing problems and affects their vocal chords, which in the long run results in occupational diseases not recognized by companies as such.



We should also mention that the hours of work tend to be rather lengthy in the gaming sector. The win-lose-win-lose cycle, inherent in gambling, usually takes place in long shifts (casinos and gaming halls are designed for such purpose: it’s always night time), comprising exhausting overtime hours which, to make matters worse, are not always paid as such.



Furthermore, termination without just cause is quite widespread within Panama’s gaming sector. So much so that representatives of one of the country’s biggest companies have recently and publicly admitted in the media that dismissals are common even when there are no financial difficulties. “There is on-going staff renewal in the company... It’s true: there are dismissals,” they point out.



As a matter of fact, in the gaming business there is a high level of staff turnover; that is, workers are constantly being hired and fired. Reports reveal that this phenomenon affects safety and maintenance workers particularly adversely, who are also subjected to the worst treatment in the labour relationship.



The other segment within gaming companies enduring the worst ill-treatment at work is women. Many are sexually harassed by their supervisors and managers, who condition their employment and job stability to the satisfaction of their macho appetites. This sexual harassment – exerted by male customers as well – is no doubt also kindled by the “work uniform” women employees have to wear at work. For women, their work environment, especially in casinos and gaming halls, usually becomes a “battlefield” where they are forced to battle daily, eluding gender-based aggressions, which represents an additional burden to the demanding occupational duties they must fulfil in order to earn their living.



Problem gambling: A common disease in the gaming industry



The gaming industry is known to cause a disease in gamblers – problem gambling –, which is a progressive behaviour disorder in which an individual has an uncontrollable urge to gamble, despite negative consequences. It is an addiction.



Compulsive gambling is a disease characterised by the uncontrollable urge to gamble. We can say someone is a compulsive gambler when they gamble not only to win, but for the pleasure of gambling, and are unable to stop, thus causing emotional, legal, financial and family problems. This addiction is often accompanied by others, such as alcohol and drugs. It is a disease that simply destroys both the gambler and the people surrounding him. Besides, the pathological gambler curtails his social interactions with gaming-unrelated people; that is, he only socialises with friends in bars, casinos, etc. Problem gambling is a disease that may affect not only gamblers but also gaming workers. The gaming employees that have become diseased are plentiful. In their case, ludomania is an occupational hazard that in our social protection system is neglected by companies and unrecognised by the State.



Casino workers’ right to organise



The foregoing are just some of the numerous situations making up “the other side of the coin” of Panama’s thriving gaming industry and are fundamentally detrimental to, and should be collectively tackled by, workers. To such end, there is no more effective and efficient tool than a trade union. Organising is an unwaivable duty and right vested on workers. When a trade union is organised, respect of workers is strengthened. The trade union is a worker’s natural protector. The aim of the trade union is to safeguard workers’ rights. Workers’ right to organise in trade unions is a universal human right, ratified by most of the world’s countries through the International Labour Organization Conventions 87 and 98. The trade union facilitates dialogue with, and employees’ representation before, the employer’s managers, as the means to channel workers’ concerns and needs.

Needless to say, workers make progress when they organise, and the organisation advances when it receives both national and international advice and support. It is clear that Panamanian casino and gaming workers have many reasons to organise. They should bear in mind that UNI-Americas Global Union is willing and available to help them in this venture and to contribute to improving working conditions in Panama’s gaming industry.
A critical step in the process of establishing casino gaming in Jamaica was taken this week with the tabling of a ministry paper on the proposed legislation in Parliament.



Ministry Paper number 3/2009 introduced the basis for the legislation, the new Casino Gaming Act, with provisions for a regulatory framework to be administered by a casino gaming commission as well as for a taxation regime. Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett said Tuesday night that it is a key plank in the process of product diversification for tourism enunciated by himself and Prime Minister Bruce Golding.



The ministry paper points out that the diversification of the tourism profile to include luxury-integrated resorts is a priority of the Government. Bartlett said he expects the legislation to be tabled in Parliament very shortly.



According to the ministry paper, there will be a tax on the gross winnings of the licensee or the amount staked or bet by customers less the amount paid out to customers as winnings. The minister will make regulations covering time and manner of payment, rates of interest on late payments and offences for breaches.



There will be no allowance for bad debt resulting from credit extended for gambling. The number of casinos will be restricted and the casino component will form no more than 20 % of the total scope and cost of each approved project.



Following comments by Guillermo Quiñónez, Fiesta Casinos General Manager, explaining that the dismissals implemented in the last months are normal in this business, UNI-Americas condemns such decision and ensures there have been reports about the termination of approximately 150 workers.



“There is on-going staff renewal in the company,” added the General Manager of Fiesta Casinos, one of the biggest players in Panama’s privatised gaming market, where only in 2008 US$1,108,141,259 were gambled in the existing 16 casinos, 28 slot arcades, 10 sports betting shops, 6 bingo-halls and the 1 racetrack, according to information recently published by the Ministry of Economics and Finance. On their own, casinos reaped profits for US$300 million.



“It’s true: there are dismissals, about 30,” admits the company’s representative. And in an attempt to minimise this fact, which undoubtedly exerts an adverse impact on the workers terminated without just cause, he points out that “we are also hiring people for our new projects.”



“Should we commend them for this gesture? Surely not; especially if we take into account that the company’s turnover reached 56 million in 2008, that is up 7.7% from the 52 million made in 2007. According to General Manager Quiñónez, the growth forecast for 2009 is similar to the growth achieved last year despite the world’s current economic crisis. Given such scenario, UNI Global Union, through its Regional Office for the Americas, headquartered in Ciudad de Panamá, openly condemns the callous decision by Fiesta Casinos, to say the least, which has made many workers jobless without just cause,” said the organisation’s officials.



“By publicly condemning the arbitrary decision of Fiesta Casinos, UNI-Americas – a trade union network bringing together over 6 million workers from the services industry of the region’s new economy – calls on the Panamanian Ministry of Labour and Labour Development (MITRADEL) to look into the above facts and to take the necessary steps to safeguard employment in our country’s gaming sector,” they ended.




As mandated by a court order, on Friday 13 February officials from Paraguay’s Deputy Ministry of Justice and Labour searched Repsur offices, located in the country’s capital city, Asunción. The search was conducted at the request of SINTRAQUIBA (Paraguay’s National Bingo, Lottery and Sports Bets Sellers’ Union), who have long requested to be recognised as full employees of the company, whose senior managers have always denied the existence of any legal link with the many men and women engaged in the sales of tickets, which allow the public to take part in the multi-million quiniela games, Repsur’s main business activity.



The search has been considered particularly relevant, not only because it offers the possibility to gather documentary and further evidence in order to achieve the recognition sought after by the workers but also because it has been the first time in the history of Paraguayan trade unionism that labour authorities have implemented a measure of this kind. In such sense, we should remember that Paraguayan society was ruled by de facto, mainly anti-union, governments for over six decades, a situation now left behind following the rise to power of former priest Fernando Lugo (April 2008).



Ticket sellers – at present submerged in the informal economy with no labour rights and no social protection – had previously tried to have Repsur audited and overseen, but had always faced the company’s intransigent attitude. María Magdalena Ortiz, SINTRAQUIBA General Secretary, has categorically stated that “our aim has been to demonstrate our employment relationship… that we are employees of Repsur and, therefore, we demand that labour legislation be observed.” As a result of the search by the Paraguayan Deputy Ministry of Justice and Labour, the company is being investigated for the above purpose.