Encore casino and hotel workers’ strike continues

Everett, Massachusetts

Roughly 2,000 strikers — from UNITE Here Local 26, Teamsters Local 25 and their supporters — flooded the picket line outside the Encore Boston Harbor casino and hotel in Everett, Massachusetts, on Sept. 23. The picket line grew bigger and bigger, winding around the side and back of the building, as strike captains kept extending the line.

It was exhilarating to march head to head, shoulder to shoulder with so many workers who are flexing their collective muscles, determined to win. Groups and unions from all over New England attended, including the Greater Boston Labor Council. It was so loud one could not hear oneself talk. A favorite chant was “If we don’t get it, Shut it down!”

The workers went on strike on Sept. 4. They are fighting for better wages, benefits and on the job protections. Both unions are demanding a $10 per hour wage increase over three years and a $5 an hour increase for tipped workers. This raise would bring the wage scale up to what other unionized hotel employees make in Boston.

Encore wants to eliminate healthcare benefits. Encore is a five-star hotel, and workers should be making enough to live in Boston, Somerville, Everett or other nearby towns. They should not have to drive an hour or two to get to work on top of having to work two jobs to survive.

This reporter talked with a Black worker about their demand for a pay raise. He said he is forced to work two jobs in order to support his family. His voice cracked when he explained that he leaves for work before his kids get up in the morning and returns when they are in bed. He looked at the ground and his face was sad.

The CEO of Encore, Craig Billings, is paid $15,090,901 a year. This is 296 times the median employee’s pay of roughly $51,000.

To save their profits, Encore will do anything. This economic period in which the workers are striking is crucial and unparalleled. Capitalism is dying.

Larry Holmes, First Secretary of Workers World Party, recently wrote: “The magnitude of the capitalist economic crisis that is spitting fire everywhere is like a colossal volcano boiling to a full eruption. The nearly entirely debt-based capitalist economy has created the biggest debt bubble in history. That bubble is about to burst, and it is going to bring down the global capitalist economy.”

Victory to the Encore workers! They are leading the way.