MASHANTUCKET, Conn. (AP)- Dealers at the Foxwoods Resort Casino are eligible to vote on whether to unionize.

They’re voting between 8 a.m. and 11 p.m. Saturday after the National Labor Relations Board rejected a request by the casino owner, the Mashantucket Pequots, to delay the vote.

Casino president John O’Brien issued a statement that the dealers are currently among the highest paid employees in the state, with average annual earnings between $45,000 and $50,000.

O’Brien says if the union gets in, all of the wages and benefits that the dealers have now become negotiable and they could lose some of them.

The United Auto Workers wants to form a union for about 3,000 dealers.

AP-ES-11-24-07 1220EST

Copy the Story Link