News

UNI Gaming Global Union at its meeting on 24/25 June 08 decided to set up a working group which will draw up a common union position on online gambling. The issues raised by participants concern gaming workers and players.



As internet gaming requires very few staff, the introduction of Internet gambling, particularly in the traditional games, will lead to job losses in the industry. The worst case scenario would be for casino-operators to get a licence for an internet casino and to offer their clients to play online on the tables in their casinos.



UNI Gaming also considers it highly important to protect the players. When gambling on the internet players are usually sitting alone and without peer control in front of their computer. Their home PC does not notice the player’s physical or mental state, for instance whether the player is drunk.



The UNI Gaming Global Union working group is therefore going to further investigate the following player-related issues relevant to on-line gambling:



Lack of protection of young people and adolescents.

High risk of addiction.

Gambling when drunk or high on drugs.

Unlimited 24/7 access to gambling without having to physically move.

Risk of job loss because people can play from their workstation.



* UNI is the global union for skills and services with more than 900 unions worldwide. www.uniglobalunion.org