Robot Worries Could Cause a 50,000-Worker Strike in Las Vegas (technologyreview.com)

Thousands of unionized hotel and casino workers in Las Vegas are ready to go on strike for the first time in more than three decades. From a report: Members of the Culinary Union, who work in many of the city's biggest casinos, have voted to approve a strike unless a deal is reached soon. Some background: On June 1, the contracts of 50,000 union workers expire, making them eligible to strike. Employees range from bartenders to guest room attendants. The last casino worker strike, in 1984, lasted 67 days and cost more than $1 million a day. Why? Higher wages, naturally. But the workers are also looking for better job security, especially from robots. "We support innovations that improve jobs, but we oppose automation when it only destroys jobs," says Geoconda Arguello-Kline, secretary-treasurer for the Culinary Union. "Our industry must innovate without losing the human touch."

Comments

Right to strike

[fluffernutter]

I fully support their right to strike since it is the only mechanism the 'common worker' has to defend themselves and ensure they get a reasonable slice of the pie. However, this is probably something that cannot be stopped.

Re:Right to strike

[chispito]

I fully support their right to strike since it is the only mechanism the 'common worker' has to defend themselves and ensure they get a reasonable slice of the pie. However, this is probably something that cannot be stopped.

Strikes don't really influence the customer like they used to (in many cases they turn off customers who aren't in unions themselves), and I'm not sure how this would affect the management other than to increase their desire to automate.

Re:Right to strike

[Wrath0fb0b]

I tend to think of it as a goal collision between multiple different interests of the union:

-- Ensuring that existing employees get better wages, benefits & working conditions
-- Increasing the number of employees represented, thus increasing dues collected and clout

The union is supposed to advocate for the former. Indeed they should be happy if automation kills 1/3rd of the jobs but leaves the remaining workers better off in terms of pay & conditions -- that's surely in the interest of the workers to get more money after all.

Unfortunately, their incentives are aligned towards the latter because 1/3rd fewer jobs means 1/3rd fewer dues to the union and correspondingly less clout. That's why you hear about construction unions mandating ridiculous minimum staffing levels -- sometimes 2-4 times as much as super-socialist European countries!

This isn't really about poor morals per-se (although it's at least amoral), it's just a quirk in the incentive structure. And I don't really have a solution for it -- certainly weaker unions is not in the worker's (or country's) interest either.

I really don't want robot dealers or croupiers

[bobstreo]

I enjoy some repartee with my dealer, and to know when to walk away when they bring in a new (mean/Chiller) dealer.

It would probably cost less, because I tip my human dealers and waitresses, but certainly less "fun". with robots. If I want creepy animatronics, I can go to a Disney park,

I also wonder how a robodealer would figure out I was counting cards with multiple decks....

You're doing it wrong

[rsilvergun]

rather than demand the continuation of exhausting and physically demanding work instead of automation you should be demanding the wealth generated by automation and civilization be evenly distributed.

Of course can't have that since it's the socialisms...

Re:You're doing it wrong

[Anonymous Coward]

Yep. Why don't you start by sharing some of your wealth with an African nation?

Oh, yeah, forgot, you only want to share other people's wealth. I forgot how looney left socialists think.

I do. And if you and the GP live in the US (or many other countries), so do you. Here's what countries the US gives foreign aid to. I'm not saying the current foreign aid structure is good, but the GP is definitely sharing some their wealth with African nations.

Re: I bet Las Vegas is getting hit by the Internet

[KixWooder]

Perhaps, but I was there last week and the casinos and street were so packed you could barely walk.

It's cooks and bartenders

[rsilvergun]

not dealers. At a high volume bar you don't interact enough with the bartender for it to matter much. At the more expensive lower volume ones they're not going to replace the bartender because it's usually a pretty girl/hot guy for you to ogle and hit on.

Re:Point?

[religionofpeas]

Just because there's no good solution doesn't mean you should try a shitty one.

Just delaying the inevitable

[sjbe]

The simple fact is that they can either get on board with learning to work with automation OR they can eventually watch their jobs go away anyway when the jobs move to someplace with more pliable labor and better automation. It would not be hard for tourists to start going elsewhere if they don't like what they get. If you have a job that can be readily taken by automation then sooner or later it will be. Your only defense against this is to have a skill set that is difficult to automate. Pretending otherwise is like fooling yourself into thinking this internet thing is a fad.

Re:Just delaying the inevitable

[fluffernutter]

It's easy to write a comment professing "thou shalt learn a non-automatable skill" but there are many reasons why this is a vast oversimplification to the point that it is almost laughable. Education costs money, many people cannot BE educated if they have the money, and what do you educate yourself in anyway? Almost any "attainable with a college certificate" job seems to be a candidate for automation over the next 15 years or so.

Re:Point?

[barc0001]

What else do you suggest they do?

Also, the robots can take their jobs one day, not *today*. If they are able to hammer out a legally binding contract that guarantees the casinos won't replace existing workers with robots under heavy financial penalty, then it's a win for them.

If they wait 10 years till those robots are ready to go and then strike they're screwed, so they have to play their hand now. I don't fault them in the least. Other workers in other sectors should be doing the same but too many people just consider themselves fortunate to be employed today and don't think about 10, 5 or even 1 year in the future and how their bosses are already planning their replacement.

Re:Point?

[MightyYar]

Please come back with a better solution

Clearly we need a law to prevent the use of productivity enhancing technology. I can't fathom a world where productivity leads to an improved standard of living for everyone. Imagine if farming were mechanized, making food less expensive so that people could pursue a career making things in cities. Then those same people could spend this newfound wealth and free time on vacation at a gambling resort in the middle of the desert, creating thousands of new jobs in the hospitality industry. Stupid, huh? Who the hell would want to go to the desert? We can dream.

Re:Point?

[Opportunist]

Re-training to what? What is that magical low-skill job that isn't going to be replaced by robots soon?

There are millions of people who aren't smart

[rsilvergun]

enough to go to college, but they _are_ smart enough to hold a gun. For thousands of years demagogues have used desperation and fear to motivate and organize these people. Perhaps if you have the guts to brutally oppress and kill them you can keep them under control. Much like we keep the population of stray dogs under control. But I don't know a lot of folks who have what it takes to go that route or who would say it's the right thing to do.

If you abandon the working class they will turn on you out of desperation. And if you wait until they actually turn on you to oppress them it'll be too late. Now's the time to act. Either fix the world so it's a better place for everyone or hope you're gonna get to be one of the oppressors and get to work on justifications for the brutal things you're going to have to do to maintain your quality of life.