Posted on: August 13, 2024, 02:37h.
Last updated on: August 13, 2024, 02:42h.
A national union that represents casino industry workers across the country has filed a lawsuit against former President Donald Trump and Elon Musk following their conversation hosted on X on Monday night.
The United Auto Workers (UAW), officially the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, primarily represents employees in automotive manufacturing. But the trade union, the sixth largest in the United States were nearly one million members, also fights on behalf of thousands of gaming industry workers.
The UAW on Tuesday responded to the Trump-Musk conversation on X’s Spaces by filing federal labor charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The union’s complaint alleges that Trump and Musk used language that could “intimidate and threaten” workers at the two billionaires’ companies.
Trump, Musk Discourse
After technical issues delayed the start of Trump’s chat with Musk, the UAW took issue with Trump seemingly applauding Musk’s firing of workers who threatened to strike after he took over Twitter, which he renamed X.
“I look at what you do. You walk in, you say, ‘You want to quit?’ They go on strike, I won’t mention the name of the company, but they go on strike, and you say, ‘That’s okay, you’re all gone. You’re all gone. So, every one of you is gone,’” Trump said to Musk.
After buying Twitter for $44 billion, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO laid off about 80% of the Twitter workforce, reducing the company’s staff from just below 8,000 to 1,500 employees.
UAW President Shawn Fain, a staunch supporter of Democrats and a foe of Trump and Musk, said Trump seemingly celebrating Musk’s mass layoffs amounted to worker intimidation.
When we say Donald Trump is a scab, this is what we mean,” Fain said in a statement announcing the NLRB filing. “When we say Trump stands against everything our union stands for, this is what we mean.”
Federal law prohibits employers from firing workers solely on the grounds of their wishing to organize and/or strike.
Donald Trump will always side against workers standing up for themselves, and he will always side with billionaires like Elon Musk,” Fain continued. “Both Trump and Musk want working-class people to sit down and shut up, and they laugh about it openly. It’s disgusting, illegal, and totally predictable from these two clowns.”
Fain became UAW president in March 2023. He’s made plenty of headlines since, most notably in September 2023 when the UAW initiated a strike at each of the “Big Three” automakers — Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis (formerly Fiat Chrysler).
Musk responded to Fain’s comments on his X platform.
“The last two UAW presidents went to prison for bribery & corruption. Based on recent news, it looks like this guy will join them,” Musk tweeted.
UAW Gaming Members
The UAW represents various casino workers, including table game dealers, slot techs and attendants, poker dealers, poker clerks, keno and simulcast employees, jai alai players in Florida, cage cashiers, and casino hosts. The union’s casino workers live and work in many major markets such as Las Vegas, Atlantic City, the Baltimore-Washington corridor, Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Ohio, and Rhode Island.
The UAW says about 10K of its members are employed in the US gaming industry. The UAW is advocating for gaming states that continue to allow indoor smoking to amend their laws to force casinos and other gaming facilities to become 100% smoke-free businesses.
The UAW endorsed President Joe Biden for the 2024 election before he announced the withdrawal of his candidacy. The union then endorsed Kamala Harris in the November 5 election.
