Colorado Casino Employees Achieve Historic Unionization at Bally’s Black Hawk Properties

The employees at Bally’s three Black Hawk casinos completed a card-check process that resulted in their affiliation with Teamsters Local 455, creating the first union representation for casino workers anywhere in Colorado and covering 110 individuals across roles that include bartenders, cashiers, cooks, maintenance technicians, slot attendants, and slot technicians.

Details of the Agreement and Vote

Bally’s and the Teamsters established a neutrality agreement during November 2025 that set the framework for the subsequent organizing effort, and the card-check procedure allowed workers to indicate their preferences without a traditional secret-ballot election, leading directly to certification of the union local.

Black Hawk operates as one of Colorado’s primary gaming destinations with Bally’s maintaining three distinct properties, East, North, and West, where the newly represented employees perform daily operational tasks that support both gaming floors and guest services.

Timeline Leading to Representation

Following the November 2025 neutrality pact, organizers moved through the properties to collect authorization cards, and the completed tally confirmed majority support among the eligible workforce by the time the results were finalized in the current period.

Observers note that the process concluded without reported disputes over the card-check method itself, allowing attention to shift toward the next steps of contract negotiations between the company and the newly certified local.

Scope of Positions Included

The bargaining unit encompasses workers who handle beverage service, cash transactions, food preparation, equipment upkeep, and gaming machine operations, creating a combined group of 110 individuals who now share the same union representation across the three Bally’s locations.

Teamsters Local 455 will serve as the exclusive representative for these employees in future discussions with Bally’s management, and the local has indicated plans to begin contract talks focused on wages, benefits, and working conditions at the Black Hawk sites.

Context Within Colorado Gaming

Colorado maintains a regulated casino industry centered in mountain towns such as Black Hawk, Central City, and Cripple Creek, yet no prior group of casino floor or support staff had secured union status before this development at Bally’s properties.

The three Bally’s venues continue to operate under state licensing requirements while the union certification adds a new layer to labor relations that will unfold through upcoming collective bargaining sessions.

Next Steps After Certification

With the vote complete, attention turns to the negotiation of an initial contract, and both Bally’s representatives and Teamsters Local 455 officials have acknowledged the process ahead without public statements on specific proposals at this stage.

The neutrality agreement reached in November 2025 remains in effect during the transition, providing guidelines that both sides agreed to follow throughout the organizing period and into the bargaining phase.

Conclusion

This card-check outcome at Bally’s East, North, and West properties in Black Hawk marks a distinct chapter for labor representation in Colorado gaming, and the inclusion of 110 workers across multiple job categories sets the stage for the first contract negotiations between the company and Teamsters Local 455. Further developments will depend on the progress of those talks, which are expected to begin in the months following the certification. According to reports detailing the vote, the process remained consistent with the earlier neutrality framework established in 2025.