Casino Workers Describe Hardships

Shifting their campaign against one of the state’s most prosperous Indian tribes to the Capitol, workers at a casino operated by the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians testified Tuesday that their employer is so tightfisted that it encourages them to use state medical programs for the poor rather than offer a more affordable company health plan.

Several Indian leaders responded angrily in testimony before the Assembly budget subcommittee on health and human services, accusing the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union of misrepresenting casino working conditions to enlist the Legislature’s support in their campaign for union contracts.

“They couldn’t come in through the front door so they’re trying to come in through the back door,” said Anthony Miranda, a leader of the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Mission Indians. “And that is what is so alarming to some tribes.”

The three hours of testimony brought the dispute between the union and fast-growing Indian casinos into the Capitol at a sensitive time for the tribes. Gov. Gray Davis wants Indian casinos to give the state a larger share of their revenues, and on Monday he formally began the process of trying to renegotiate the revenue-sharing portion of the gambling agreements held by 61 Native American tribes in California.

In February, Davis notified tribes that he wanted to rewrite their 20-year gambling agreements to address the off-reservation environmental impact of Indian casinos. The agreements went into effect in 2000.

Indian leaders said the dispute with the union and the governor’s desire to change the agreements are motivated by the same factor: money. Tribal casinos employ about 40,000 people and generate up to $5 billion in annual revenues, the state estimates.

By federal law, tribes are considered sovereign nations and do not pay state or local taxes. They also are not bound by labor laws, although unions are supposed to be able to organize workers at tribal casinos under the existing agreements.

California’s larger gambling tribes already share 7% to 13% of their casino revenues with the state under the agreements. Davis has said that he would be willing to expand the current limit of 2,000 slot machines per tribe in exchange for a larger share of casino revenue. Slots are typically a casino’s most profitable game.

Any evidence that a large number of casino workers must rely on state programs for their health-care needs could strengthen the governor’s hand in the negotiations.

At Tuesday’s hearing, four Agua Caliente casino workers told heart-rending stories of their struggles to obtain affordable health care for their families.

Leslie Stolar, a 42-year-old cocktail server at Agua Caliente’s Spa Resort Casino in Riverside County, said she was forced to enroll her children in the state’s Healthy Families program for the poor because she couldn’t afford the casino’s family health plan -- an experience she described as “very humiliating for me.”

Last month, the union released a UCLA survey of 199 cooks, bartenders, janitors and attendants at one of the Agua Caliente tribe’s two Coachella Valley casinos that found that nearly half of the children of casino floor workers are enrolled in the state’s Medi-Cal or Healthy Families programs for the poor.

The report said the tribe saves about $1 million a year by offering a family insurance plan that many employees said they could not afford.

Cal State San Bernardino economics professor Eric Nilsson, the study’s lead author, defended the findings at Tuesday’s hearing. Other witnesses testified that the tribe’s policies cost the state millions of dollars a year.

Indian leaders, however, said the survey was biased and encouraged unfounded assumptions about other tribes. They testified that the union had failed to convince casino employees that they would benefit from union representation.

Tribal leaders described the medical coverage they provide their employees, 401(k) retirement plans and other benefits, and they presented workers to support their claims.

“I’m very happy with the casino and the benefits they’ve provided me with,” said Mandie Poncia, 27, a bartender at the Rolling Hills Casino in the small Northern California town of Corning. “I don’t think a union would make it a better place to work.”

Co-worker Kim Weston, 36, a single mother with five children, said the casino was the first employer to offer her affordable health coverage.

Miranda said his tribe provides 2,900 jobs at its Riverside County casino and pays $10 million a year for employee health care and other benefits.

“It’s good business to have happy, healthy, productive employees, and that’s what we do,” he said.

Tribal leaders had unsuccessfully tried to broaden the scope of Tuesday’s hearing to include other non-Indian employers. Still, the gentle questioning of legislators -- or the lack of questioning -- suggested that the Legislature might not be looking to confront the tribes, the state’s largest campaign contributors.

Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia (R-Cathedral City) questioned whether the Legislature should even be examining the dispute while negotiations between the governor and the tribes are getting underway. She said tribal casinos provide better benefits to its workers than the state of California.

“Certainly if we’re looking at the tribes, we should be looking at the state of California,” she said.