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Updated: Monday, 12 Jan 2009, 7:19 PM EST
Published : Monday, 12 Jan 2009, 6:21 AM EST
Uncasville (WTNH) - Mohegan Sun workers will soon see a difference in their paychecks. The casino is cutting back in effort to avoid cutting jobs.
The gaming floors at Mohegan Sun are a bit quieter these days.
"Revenues were down in slots for the last fiscal year," Mitchell Etess, President of Mohegan Sun, said.
It's a slow down which has prompted Mohegan Sun to put in place rollbacks paycuts, starting at the top.
"I can take a look at everybody in this building and tell them I took the biggest paycut and that rolls down," Etess said.
Top guys, like Etess, are taking a 10 percent paycut. Middle managers are taking 7.5 percent cuts and line workers will be getting four percent less an hour. Company matches on 401k's and salary increases are all frozen and all done to avoid layoffs.
Detelj: "Does this send a message guaranteeing they're gonna have a job for a while?"
Etess: "I think it sends the message that the employees realize that the last thing we want to do is ever put people out of work, especially in the environment we're here in now."
These pay changes only make up about a third of the cost cutting measures at the casino. The $734 million expansion was announced when house of blues front man Dan Akroyd rolled into town.
"Thank you all for coming!" Akroyd said.
It is on hold and other changes, like the Sunburst Buffet, is now closed two days a week.
The workforce at Mohegan Sun has gotten smaller although people may not have noticed as much. That's because in the past year, 600 positions were eliminated through attrition which means when people left they weren't replaced.
The 9,800 employees will take a hit but it may be better than the alternative.
"As long as they don't lay people off I think it's good," John, a Mohegan Sun employee, said.
The pay cuts at Mohegan Sun go into effect February 1st.
The state's other casino, Foxwoods, is also feeling the pinch. In October, 700 employees there were laid off.
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