"The week's announcement that Mohegan Sun is cutting the salaries of all 9,800 of its employees effective Feb. 1 is indicative of how bad things are.

But it is better than eliminating jobs.

We live in a changed world today. The heady times of just a couple of years ago are a distant memory. Seemingly everyone is struggling, including Connecticut's two Native American casinos, once economic powerhouses that posted phenomenal profit increases year after year.

But the casinos are not immune to the current recession. That is evidenced by the Mohegan Tribe's decision to cut workers' pay, among other measures, to meet the restrictions of its borrowing agreements.

Opting for salary reductions rather than layoffs was the better choice for employees and the casino. And in the long run it will help the region and the state by keeping people out of unemployment lines and by not adding to an already overburdened public assistance system."

Get the Story:
Editorial: Better Than No Pay (The New London Day 1/13)

Another Story:
Mohegan Tribe Considers Slimmer Tribal Government (The New London Day 1/13)