Posted on: January 6, 2025, 09:51h.
Last updated on: January 6, 2025, 10:01h.
Workers at the Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino in Niagara Falls, NY, are seeking to form a union and begin collective bargaining negotiations with their employer, the Seneca Gaming Corporation.
Unionizing efforts began on December 12, Vernon Lohan, a former Seneca Niagara employee who now assists in organizing efforts, told the Niagara Gazette.
You’re not given a fair handshake over there,” Lohan said.
The former food and beverage worker at the tribal casino said employees have been terminated for minor grievances that should have warranted a warning or disciplinary action. Lohan also claims that employees deserve better pay and benefits.
Lohan is working with the Teamsters Local 449 union. The Buffalo trade group represents staffers in a variety of industries.
Union Efforts Previously Failed
Workers at Seneca Niagara unsuccessfully tried to unionize in 2004 and 2005. To organize, a minimum of 30% of a company’s workforce must sign petition cards saying they support unionizing.
If the 30% threshold is realized, the Teamsters would then work with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the independent federal agency that protects the rights of private sector employees to unionize and assure fair labor practices nationwide.
The NLRB would first make sure there are no other existing labor contracts in place and that the petitioning union is qualified to represent the workers. The NLRB would then inform Seneca Niagara of the signature-gathering results and require the employer to post a Notice of Petition for Election in “conspicuous places, including all places where notices to employees are customarily placed.” In 2025, that also typically means an email regarding the election notice is made to all employees.
The NLRB would then conduct the election and tally the results. If a vote is in favor of unionizing, federal law says Seneca Gaming Corporation must negotiate in good faith bargaining with the Teamsters.
Though Seneca Niagara is a tribal resort on sovereign land, federal labor law requires that tribal companies that employ people outside of its reservation adhere to the National Labor Relations Act, which the NLRB governs.
Seneca Niagara First
If Seneca Niagara unionizes, efforts to bargain at the tribe’s two other casino resorts — Seneca Allegany Resort & Casino in Salamanca and Seneca Buffalo Creek in Buffalo — would likely see similar efforts.
Seneca Niagara is the largest casino of the three with more than 2,500 slot machines, 60 live dealer table games, and a sportsbook. The resort’s AAA Four Diamond hotel has over 600 guestrooms and top-tier amenities like a spa and salon, high-end retail shopping, an indoor pool, a fitness center, and an array of restaurants, bars, and lounges.
Seneca Gaming employs over 5,500 full-time workers. The tribe says it paid approximately $313.4 million in wages last year and generated an economic impact of $1.1 billion in upstate New York.
The tribe shares 25% of its slot proceeds with the state. The Senecas, however, want to end the revenue-sharing terms with a new Class III gaming compact. Negotiations with New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) are ongoing.
