Connecting personal biography and social history: women casino workers and the global economy

Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, Dec, 2001 by Jill B. Jones, Susan Chandler

Even though casino jobs might be easier, cleaner and less dangerous than farm work, none of the workers we interviewed described their current work as "heaven." At best, they singled out certain aspects of their jobs as enjoyable (for example, working with other women). Still for many immigrant workers, casino work did represent a welcome opportunity. But in most cases workers considered it only the first step toward gaining economic security--it met immediate needs, but wasn't generally viewed as a long-term solution.

Work Conditions

Casino jobs, the women said, though easy to come by, were mostly hard, physical labor. If they were maids, they pushed heavy carts piled with laundry and were assigned 15 rooms to clean in an 8-hour shift. If they worked on the casino floor as change women, they wore heavy money belts and contended with the overwhelming noise and smoke. A family resource center director, who himself had worked in several casinos, noted:

   It's grueling ... and I've noticed that everything is regimented. Let's
   say, a dishwasher. It's relentless work for eight hours with two 15 minute
   breaks and a half hour lunch. And the general management style is punitive.
   Boy, imagine lugging dishes around all day or bussing tables all day. But
   in addition you've got the lack of psychological support.

Most women found casino work traumatic; as one said, "The managers think they own you." Corroborating the workers' perspective, a social work family therapist commented:

   Women casino workers I work with are depressed, they hate the job. Only one
   enjoyed the job and [that was because of the] good health insurance. But
   it's rare. It's an oppressive environment the way they are treated by the
   employers and also belittled by consumers. Shift work's effect on family
   life is devastating.

Women often talked about the race and gender discrimination they encountered, carefully distinguishing its nature and whether it came from customers, employees, or management:

   Yes, racial remarks are really there. You're not treated with a lot of
   respect.... Agua! Or Hurry up! They're not polite. [In our countries] we
   [are taught] to treat other people with a lot of respect. It makes it
   really hard for people working for the casinos. You're nothing, you're ...
   a bus person. You're just here.

The most universal complaint, however, was with wages. Wages in Reno's non-unionized casinos are low and back-of-the-house workers begin at minimum wage. "It's absolutely amazing," a social worker observed, "families of five or six who live on $700 a month." Although health care benefits are available and are cited as a great boon by women in higher categories of employment, many of these families can't afford them.

Listening to the women describe their work and its impact on families and community, we could not help but think of the term alienation. Their vivid and often heart-rending accounts of daily work life echoed classic Marxist descriptions of the alienation of workers and with it a sense of powerlessness, meaninglessness, social isolation, and self-estrangement.