Casino operator Bally’s Corporation has announced that it has signed a multi-project labour agreement (PLA) with a consortium of trade union organisations regarding the construction of its Bally’s Chicago casino.
Bally’s signed the deal with the Chicago & Cook County Building & Construction Trades Council (CCBT) and the AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department. The CCBT is an AFL-CIO affiliated labour organisation, representing 100,000 people from 23 affiliated construction trade organisations.
“CCBT is proud to stand with Bally’s Chicago in this historic building of the first and only casino in the City of Chicago,” said CCBT president Michael Macellaio. “With this agreement, Bally’s shows that it understands the importance of good-paying jobs in our city and the dignity of our hard-working people.”
In May, the city council of Chicago chose Bally’s to build the city’s sole casino in a competitive bidding process that also included Rush Street Gaming and Hard Rock.
“At Bally’s, we believe our company should reflect the community. This PLA is a demonstration of our commitment to embrace organized labor that has played such a key role in building the great city of Chicago,” said Bally’s Chairman Soo Kim. “This is the first step of a project that will be built by Chicago, for Chicago, and help the city keep its promises to the police and fire pensions.
“We are also committed to inclusivity and our partnerships with the CCBT, Chicago Federation of Labor, and Hire360 will ensure our workforce will reflect the rich diversity of the city,” said Kim.
While the integrated casino resort has faced opposition from some local residents in the River North neighborhood where the development is planned, the deal with labor organizations is another step forward on the road to completion for for the project.
“We appreciate that Bally’s holds itself to a higher standard when it comes to employment,” said Bob Reiter, President of the Chicago Federation of Labor.
“Our mission is to strengthen the participation of underrepresented populations—with a special focus on engaging youth to consider the trades as a viable and inspiring career path—and Bally’s has proven to take that very seriously.”
