President Casino employees rally for better deal
Written on May 13, 2010
St. Louis — Several dozen employees of the soon-to-close President Casino rallied outside the riverboat Friday, asking for the right to new jobs at other local casinos owned by the same company.
About 220 people will be laid off when Pinnacle Entertainment closes the President next month. The company originally said there would be no severance or relocation packages, then a day later said it would reconsider that policy.
Pinnacle is set to sit down Tuesday with UNITE Here Local 74, which represents 58 President employees, to negotiate packages for unionized workers. Then it will make plans for the rest.
Some President employees say they would like a shot at jobs at either Lumi?re Place or River City Casino, two Pinnacle-owned properties that together employ more than 2,500 people pay day loan lenders.
But Pinnacle says only 24 President employees showed up to an "internal job fair" for jobs at River City in December, and that half of the President’s employees moved to Lumi?re when it opened in 2007. Pinnacle says it also will hold job fairs with other local casinos to help President employees find work.
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