Don’t buy: AFT avoids doing business with Harrah’s Entertainment—The AFT will not conduct any business with Harrah’s Entertainment—which owns casinos and resorts around the United States—as long as the company continues to stonewall in contract negotiations with United Auto Workers members in Atlantic City, said AFT President Randi Weingarten in an Aug. 19 letter to Harrah’s CEO Gary Loveman.

“We have more than 1.4 million members nationwide with our greatest concentration in the Northeast,” Weingarten wrote. “Atlantic City has been a favored destination for our members and their families. Las Vegas is another popular venue for our meetings. However, while this stalemate continues, we will be actively seeking alternate business relationships and facilities for upcoming conventions and meetings.”

The AFT looks forward to hearing of the fair resolution of a contract with the UAW Atlantic City dealers’ union, she said. “Until that time, our policy is to take our meeting and convention business elsewhere.”  For more information about the labor dispute, go to the Atlantic City Casino Workers Web site at www.acdealersunion.com.

Justice prevails: Colorado faculty win court case on tenure—In a case that holds national implications, the Metropolitan State College of Denver Board of Trustees has decided not to appeal a significant state district court ruling on faculty tenure protections written into faculty handbooks. In June, a Denver District Court judge ruled that the college violated faculty rights when it rewrote the faculty handbook to eliminate tenure retroactively.

The case began six years ago, when the board of trustees at Metropolitan State College of Denver rewrote the handbook. The Metropolitan State Faculty Federation, an AFT affiliate, filed suit. The District Court judge later ruled that the board’s actions were legally void, and faculty tenure rights were restored. Last week, the Metro State Board of Trustees decided not to appeal the ruling.

David Strom, AFT general counsel, believes that “it was a significant accomplishment to convince a court that a handbook is binding and can confer vested tenure rights. Most employers believe that handbooks are policy statements, subject to change, that do not create permanent rights.”

This case is especially significant since Colorado does not have collective bargaining rights.

AFL-CIO news:‘Working NY’ television show starts again Oct. 7—The fourth season of “Working New York”—a half-hour talk show designed to inform the general public of policies, issues and initiatives important to working men and women and their families—begins at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 7.

Airing the first and third Wednesdays of each month, the program is hosted by New York state AFL-CIO President Denis Hughes and addresses a wide range of social, political and economic issues from the point of view of working people. The show attracts a diverse collection of guests from the worlds of politics, literature, entertainment and labor. Regional News Network is a broadcast network that currently reaches close to five million households in the tri-state area. In New York, RNN airs on cable and satellite systems from Long Island, through New York City and the Hudson Valley and into the Capital District.

For more information about the show or for a listing of stations, go to www.nysaflcio.org.

In memoriam: UUP mourns former statewide treasurer—Former UUP treasurer Frank DiNoto died Aug. 5 following a long illness. He was 77.

DiNoto, who served as union treasurer from June 1974 to October 1975, was director of financial aid at SUNY Fredonia. He left the college in 1977.

He was a teacher in the Fishkill School System for more than 25 years.

DiNoto received his bachelor’s degree from UAlbany and his master’s from Penn State.

— Karen L. Mattison