Source: Connecticut General Assembly's Office of Legislative Research
For so-called "megacasinos" like Foxwoods crime in the immediate area has also been shown to increase. The most likely culprit, however, is an increase in population.
In Connecticut, while the rate of crimes such as robbery, arson, and aggravated assault dropped on a state level by 42 percent from 1983 to 2000, the five towns surrounding the two casinos saw a 2.3 percent increase, according to a study by the Connecticut General Assembly's Office of Legislative Research.
State police Sgt. John Rich, who oversees the police department in Ledyard, Conn., home to Foxwoods, has seen some of these increases firsthand.
Crimes that begin at Foxwoods such as robberies and carjackings, end up in town.
Ledyard saw a dramatic increase in robberies, larcenies, burglaries and aggravated assaults in the years after Foxwoods opened, according to state crime statistics. Those numbers have since declined.
Arrests on charges of driving under the influence are 3-to-1 in favor of out-of-towners in Ledyard, the town's mayor recently said.
Many of those incidents have been related directly to the casino Rich said.
"We go from more of a proactive stance in law enforcement to a reactive stance due to an increase in the calls for service," Rich said.
Baxandall's 2005 study, "The Casino Gamble in Massachusetts," however, showed crime as a whole actually decreased in casino counties, but on a per-capita basis.
The two Connecticut casinos collectively employ 20,000 people, many of whom are new to the region.
"The data was not showing a crime wave," Baxandall said. "It was showing an increase that was more or less keeping with population increases."
But homeowners living near casinos are at increased risk for bankruptcy.
MASHANTUCKET - Table game dealers at Foxwoods Resort Casino voted to unionize in a historic election Saturday, delivering a victory for organized labor in Connecticut and bolstering efforts to organize more of the casino's 10,000 employees.The final tally was 1,289 dealers voting for union representation and 852 dealers voting against it, according to results released early Sunday morning."All we are looking for is respect," said Billy Shea, a longtime dealer at the casino in southeastern Connecticut. "What's got to happen for the company is the healing process has to begin."
Fugitive caught at Foxwoods
Police say a Pennsylvania man wanted in three states has been captured in a parking garage of Foxwoods Resort Casino. Frank G. Czerwinski Jr., 43, of Easton, Pa. is wanted by the FBI on several charges including armed robbery, aggravated assault and violation of probation for crimes in Virginia, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, according to The Associated Press. The FBI notified state police in Montville after a cell phone call by Czerwinski placed him in the Foxwoods area Sunday. A Mashantucket Pequot security guard spotted a 1998 Buick on the fifth floor of a parking garage. State police and the casino unit confronted Czerwinski, who reportedly was sleeping in his car. Czerwinski was charged with being a fugitive from justice and faces a court appearance today.
casinos like Foxwoods where, crime in the immediate area has also been shown to increase. The most likely culprit, however, is an increase in population.
Crimes that begin at Foxwoods , such as robberies and carjackings, end up in town.
Many of those incidents have been related directly to the casinos, Rich said.
John Mason, Puritan, Co-Founder of Norwich 1660
Major Mason was the chief military officer in the colony for 35 years. He was magistrate and major at Windsor for 8 years. He married his second wife, Anne Peck, after the death of his first wife, and had altogether 8 children. A son John Jr., was mortally wounded in King Phillip's war (another English/Indian struggle) in 1675. For the next 12 years he was placed in charge of a fort in Saybrook. In 1660 with his son-in-law, the Rev. James Fitch, he founded Norwich. During the first 8 years he was made deputy governor and for two years was acting governor while Gov. Winthrop was in England seeking Connecticut's charter from King Charles. He died January 30, 1672.
Talk of union is running high in the world’s largest casino located in southeastern Connecticut. Since opening 15 years ago, Foxwoods, which employs 12,000, has become the biggest private employer in the state. Most of the dealers who have operated table games at the casino since it opened remember how Foxwoods’ management, the Mashantucket Pequot tribe, and employees had the common goal of creating the world’s largest gaming playground. Lavish parties were thrown, health coverage rivaled the best, and holiday season bonuses were as high as $1,500. Then, not in concert with the mantra, “we’re all in this together,” the cutbacks began. Over the past five years, employee benefits were gutted by an overzealous managerial team hired by the tribe. Instead of appreciation for their sacrifices, dealers faced oppressive policies. A point system of progressive discipline, including dismissal, was applied to lateness or absenteeism regardless of circumstances. The only recourse open to employees with grievances was the Employee Group Council (EGC), a panel of concerned Foxwoods employees representing the different occupational departments. Their purpose was to present employee grievances to management and the tribe in an informal setting, so that solutions might be mutually agreed upon. However, EGC representatives were ineffective in the face of managerial stiff-arming. Management lost employees’ trust. Dealers charged that management systematically ripped off tips by under-calculating the “toke rate,” the share of table earnings that dealers rely on to bolster their $4 an hour wage. Management refused efforts to negotiate employee oversight of the calculation of the toke rate. Although an organizing drive in the late 1990s by the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees did not take hold at Foxwoods, recent union organizing efforts in the gaming industry have been successful. In the past six months, more than five casinos in Atlantic City have accepted the will of employees who voted for union representation. The latest this week is the workers at Tropicana Resort and Casino. Although real estate has always been controlled by the affluent in this part of Connecticut, the cost of housing skyrocketed after the construction of Foxwoods. Dealers were priced out of the real estate market, unable to live anywhere near their place of employment. Commute times are often an hour each way. The commute time is longer for those who wait for infrequent bus shuttles at “park and ride” sites and employee parking lots. The resulting tardiness becomes grounds for disciplinary action. Willful take-backs of essential benefits started about five years ago, and were cutting to the bone last year when an anonymous web site, Madatfoxwoods.com, surfaced. This site became a sounding board where dealers, waiters, cleaning personnel, house cleaners and even security workers posted complaints and grievances, and is where talk of a union began. The site was used to share ideas and strategy, as well as to release tension after an 8-hour tour of disrespect at the hands of casino management. Through this site, dealers, without the aid of a union, planned a sickout for New Year’s Day and evening, a huge revenue day for casinos. Foxwoods management, also aware of the goings-on at Madatfoxwoods.com, prepared for the sickout by beefing up scheduling for that time and by declaring New Year’s Day a “peak day,” with additional discipline for no-shows. Even so, between 200 and 300 dealers were reportedly absent, and a statement was made. In response, Foxwoods broke a promise to revisit dealer compensation packages before the next peak period, Chinese New Year, in February. The next delaying tactic was to promise dealers a 5 percent across-the-board raise. Finally, as tensions continued to grow, and Madatfoxwoods.com flourished with new support for the union, Foxwoods cut off two-way communications with dealers and all other departments by unceremoniously eradicating the EGC. The so-called 5 percent raise amounted to a net increase of 2 cents for some dealers. No one got 5 percent, but Foxwoods reported to all media they had implemented a 5 percent raise for their dealers. By March 2007, the United Auto Workers union began to make inroads to unionize Foxwoods dealers. Having organized “corporate” casinos, the UAW would now navigate the tricky waters of the “tribal” casino and the sovereign land issues involved. The union was ready to move forward as the ink dried on a U.S. Court of Appeals ruling that a California “tribal casino” must abide by the National Labor Relations Act if it employs U.S. citizens. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal publicly upheld the ruling, and declared it applicable to the state of Connecticut. Foxwoods has hired the law firm of Jackson Lewis, which specializes in resisting efforts to unionize. Numerous allegations of unlawful tactics have been filed. Union organizing has been hampered by surveillance cameras all over the casino property, including parking lots. Today the drive continues, as Foxwoods dealers anxiously await the election.
"We are on your side," state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal told about 60 workers, union officials and others.
He said he has filed a brief on the UAW's behalf, telling the National Labor Relations Board that it has the authority to order a vote. A federal appeals court ruled earlier this year that Indian casinos are bound by the NLRB, which sets rules for unionization.
Foxwoods said in a statement it is "certainly in favor of an employee's right to organize and right to bargain." However, the Mashantuckets say the election and bargaining should be done under tribal employment law that has been developed over 15 years.
Tribal gambling has grown into a $22 billion-a-year industry with casinos in 28 states. About 250,000 people, mostly non-Indians, work at the nation's 400-plus tribal casinos.
A few tribal casinos in California are unionized, but most workers are nonunion. Unions have tried to make inroads with the growing work force but say they've had trouble without the protection of the federal National Labor Relations Act.
Sherry Lee, a dealer at Foxwoods, told state officials and others Monday that workers need to increase their pay to keep up with the cost of living.
"We're diligent workers," she said. "We work five days a week. If we could, we'd work seven days a week."
Most of the elected officials backing the UAW's drive to unionize dealers are Democrats, traditional union allies.
"Isn't it great to be on the offense again?" Rep. Christopher Murphy, D-Conn., asked participants at the rally.
Several Republicans, including U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays and state Sen. Anthony Guglielmo, R-Stafford Springs, also back the union drive.
