TOLEDO, Ohio — In front of Hollywood Casino in Toledo on Wednesday night, United Auto Workers and United Steel Workers members wanted to send a message, projecting "FAIR CONTRACT NOW!" on the casino's facade.
UAW Local 14 President Tony Totty said the message lets their "brothers and sisters that are working" know the unions have their back as they negotiate wage increases with the casino.
Union members also held signs and waved at honking cars passing by.
"When you take on one of us, you get all of us, as you can hear from all the people passing by that know the importance of unions in these towns," Totty said.
The USW and UAW have been representing about 800 workers as part of a joint council at Hollywood Casinos in Toledo and Columbus for almost 10 years.
"These workers deserve a fair wage increase every American is getting right now because of inflation," USW 1-346 President Jim Witt said. "Everyone is hurt and they need a contract that reflects that."
The contract for union workers at the casinos expired on Dec. 1 and they've been on an extension for two weeks.
Totty said the unions are "very serious" about demanding fair contracts. Totty and Witt hope negotiations reach a middle ground soon, but a strike isn't out of the question.
"It just sends the message that these workers deserve a fair contract now," Witt said. "That's what they're pushing for. They're still talking and that's what we want them to get."
Totty and Witt said they did not want to go into further detail about the negotiations because they are still ongoing and they hope to come to an agreement soon.