This account of a successful unionization campaign among dealers is based on an ethnographic study-in-progress of workers in Atlantic City's eleven casinos. Deteriorating working conditions that reflect broader political economic trends have contributed to a shift in employees' attitudes toward their jobs, their employers, and consequently unions. Unions became “insiders,” as casino management is increasingly viewed as “outsiders.” This case study is indicative of organized labor's ability to unionize in the twenty-first-century service economy.
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