Human Rights Report on Unsafe Working Conditions at Vegas Casinos, Hotels

   

Fatma Marouf (UNLV, soon to join Texas A&M), Sameer Ashar (UC Irvine) and Jennifer Rosenbaum (Yale) have just released a report, entitled “Banking on Unsafe Working Conditions: Placing Profits Before Protection of Casino & Hotel Workers’ Human Rights in Deutsche Bank’s U.S. Supply Chain.”

From the executive summary:  The report “examines working conditions for employees of Station Casinos LLC, which is the third largest private employer in Nevada. The report is based on interviews with 101 employees and raises serious human rights concerns related primarily to casino and hotel workers’ health and safety. Deutsche Bank, a multinational corporation based in Frankfurt, Germany is a partial owner of the company.”  

The report finds extensive violations of workers’ rights taking place at the casinos and hotels.  The report recommends “that Station Casinos and Deutsche Bank investigate and address the health and safety issues identified in the report, including by: (1) providing adequate safety equipment to protect workers; (2) ensuring that existing policies addressing health and safety issues are being properly implemented, or developing such policies if none exist; (3) promptly fixing defective machinery and broken equipment that can result in workplace injuries; (4) eliminating any infestations that create health risks; (5) monitoring and maintaining acceptable air quality in the casinos; (6) hiring necessary employees to reduce the mental and physical strain on workers; and (7) offering adequate benefits, including paid sick leave. Trainings should also be provided on labor and employment rights, as well as nondiscrimination policies, to encourage reporting and reduce fear of retaliation.”

A number of law professors reviewed the report prior to its release and expressed support for its findings.

-JKoh