Caesars Southern Indiana Employees Petition for Enhanced Safety

A petition was signed by employees of Caesars in Southern Indiana. The petition urges for changes towards safer work environment and mandatory masks for visitors.

Safe Post-COVID-19 Measures Demanded by Caesars Employees

Indiana Caesars employees have requested stricter rules for post-COVID-19 operations. The workers signed a petition with more than 300 signatures and addressed it towards Caesars’ management. According to the workers, smoking within the casino floors must be prohibited and masks must be mandatory for casino guests. Currently, Caesars guests are not required to wear masks but are rather “strongly encouraged” to do so. With that being said, there are visitors who do not wear a mask at all and since it’s not mandatory those visitors are posing a risk towards Caesars employees, the workers say.

Another matter of concern is that guests who wear a mask, take it off when they smoke. According to Caesars employees, this needs to change. Cited by News and Tribune, an employee of Caesars, Anjila Gaudet said: “When they’re smoking, it creates a lot of gray areas where the guests are able to just sit without masks.” Gaudet continued by saying: “And with the numbers in our state right now, we find that its unacceptable for anybody to not have masks in the casino.” The Caesars employee further outlined that given the dire situation, the lives of employees are important. In conclusion, Gaudet urged that a safe work environment is needed.

The employees urging for the changes do not actually want the smoking to be entirely prohibited. They are rather calling for restricting the smoking of guests to certain areas. If this is done, the guests who smoke and do not have a mask will not be in close proximity with employees.

Closed since March, Many Businesses Reopen Their Venues in Indiana

Looking back to March, similar to other states, casinos and other entertainment businesses in Indiana were ordered to close. The order came from Governor Eric Holcomb and it also introduced other restrictions. This was an effort by the state to help the spread of the respiratory disease COVID-19. After a few months of shut doors, casinos were allowed to reopen on June 15.

However, in order to prevent increasing numbers of COVID-19 patients, the state officials outlined protocols for social distancing and reduced venue capacity. In addition, the operators who wanted to reopen doors had to follow strict cleaning and sanitation protocols. The reopening of casinos was a part of the phased plan by the state’s officials. With that being said, Phase 5 was expected to be introduced in Indiana on July 4.

This however changed when earlier this week, Governor Holcomb announced that Phase 5 will be pushed back for two weeks. The governor pointed out that an uptick of the COVID-19 patients was observed, thus a new plan was introduced. Governor Holcom announced that the state is entering Phase 4.5, which is effective tomorrow – July 4 through July 17. With that being said, partial restrictions remain in place.