Casino workers' nerve holds for a big payout

Employees of Stanley Casino, the UK's largest casino operator, have won a backdated pay deal after overwhelmingly rejecting an inferior offer just one week earlier.

The deal, negotiated by the GMB general union, is worth 3.5% or £600 a year, whichever is the greater. The pay increase is backdated to 1 May.

In rejecting the previous offer of 3.2%, staff said they were willing to be balloted on industrial action - which could have resulted in the UK casino industry's first-ever strike.

Stanley's latest accounts report a £26 million profit, following the sale of its 624 betting shops to William Hill. The company operates casinos in 41 locations across England and Scotland, employing croupiers, chefs, receptionists, cleaners, security and waiting staff on salaries of approximately £10,000 a year.

The new pay offer is worth 5.8% to Stanley's lowest-paid workers, and GMB organiser Mick Ainsley said he hoped it would be "the first step of many in replacing well-paid manufacturing jobs with well-paid service-sector jobs".

Ainsley praised Stanley for working with the union to improve pay and conditions, but warned that low wages remain prevalent in much of the gaming industry. "There is still lots to do to achieve the a just share of the profits from this industry for the people who create the wealth, the casino staff," he said.