Pueblog USa

Wednesday, August 24, 2005

Casinos and Jobs

So if a casino set up shop in Pueblo, what would the jobs really be like?

Working in a casino looks pretty cushy. They’re air-conditioned, have soft carpeting, and the customers are there to have fun, generally. While casinos usually serve alcohol, getting drunk is not the point.

In a casino you’ve got people who run the games for customers (dealers, croupiers), you’ve got their supervisors, you’ve got food and drink servers, people who are constantly picking up and cleaning up after the customers, a security guard or two, and you’ve got bookkeepers and accountants.

Nothing looks difficult, except maybe the bookkeeping and accounting jobs. However, some years ago I took some training to deal blackjack for a charity casino night. The man who trained us had worked in Nevada for a number of years and now rented equipment and gave training for charity casino nights. Gambling was just starting in the old mining towns of Blackhawk, Central City and Cripple Creek, and a couple of people were really curious about part-time jobs in the casinos.

This man told us some things which made us think twice. Dealers and croupiers have a surprising number of health problems. They’re generally on their feet a lot, so fallen arches, bunions, etc.,  are common. Dice tables and roulette wheels are not ergonomically designed (maybe they can’t be), and the result is back problems. He told us female croupiers have a higher than average rate for hysterectomies.

It’s surprisingly fatiguing. If I remember correctly, he said dealers generally work only 45 minutes, then get a break because of the intense mental focus involved, as well as being on your feet.

So, while promoters are dangling 400 jobs in front of Puebloans, how many are full-time? How many would pay a living wage, not just minimum wage? If many are part-time positions, would a benefit package including health insurance be part of the deal? Many casino workers would probably be dependent on tips to have a living wage. And how many of the higher-end management and accounting positions would be back in Oklahoma, not in Pueblo?

A certain school board member here in Pueblo raised a furor when she said the schools were only teaching Hispanic students enough to clean toilets for a living. It takes a little more book learning to deal blackjack (you have to be able to add in your head) but is it really a classier job? In Las Vegas, Nevada, I’m sure teachers and other parents are used to children announcing that Mommy is a blackjack dealer (what every parent wants for their daughter) or that Daddy is a pit boss (elegant job title),  but is Pueblo really ready for that?