Former Vice President and Democratic presidential contender Joe Biden has weighed in on the Station Casinos-Culinary Union standoff with a letter to Station’s billionaire boss, Frank Fertitta III, urging the company to negotiate labor contracts with union workers at the company’s Las Vegas casinos.
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders was the first of Biden’s rivals for the party’s nomination to declare his support for the workers in their battle with Station, which prompted a series of similar statements from other candidates, including Biden, and led to the issue being raised by Democrats on the floor of Congress.
The Culinary, a Nevada affiliate of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International, has won federally supervised union elections at seven Station casinos in Las Vegas and the surrounding suburbs. But the company thus far has refused to recognize the votes. The National Labor Relations Board has declared Station in violation of the law for refusing to bargain with the union at its Palms Casino Resort and Green Valley Ranch, a ruling Station is appealing in court.
In the letter, Biden characterized the company’s stance as both “deeply troubling” and “unlawful.”
“These workers have earned their seat at the negotiating table and they are legally entitled to recognition.”
He called the Culinary Union a “critical lifeline” for casino workers in Nevada, saying it has brought “significant improvements to the state’s gaming and tourism industry.”
“Station Casinos, its employees, and its properties will only benefit from a strong relationship with organized labor in Nevada,” he wrote. “As required by law, Station Casinos should immediately recognize the elections that have taken place and, without unnecessary delay, come to the negotiating table in good faith with Station employees at any property that chooses to unionize.”
The Culinary’s 60,000-strong membership could prove decisive in Nevada’s Democratic presidential caucus in February, so Biden’s involvement in the dispute is hardly surprising. And though he was far from the first of the candidates to speak out, as the candidate of the Democratic establishment his position has no shortage of precedents, and organized labor is one of the party’s main strengths.
It’s no surprise either that Fertitta, who also is chairman and CEO of Station’s publicly traded parent, Red Rock Resorts, is a well-known donor to the Republican Party.
For Biden, however, it’s gotten a little tricky after CBS News reported earlier this year that he’s also taken money from Dr. James Nave, a frequent Democratic donor and a member of Station’s board of directors. Culinary Secretary-Treasurer Geoconda Arguello-Kline has called on all Democrats to return donations from Station executives. Biden’s campaign has not complied, according to a report in the Nevada Independent, a non-profit, non-partisan news site for which Station also provides financial support.
Democratic presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren also had a misstep with the union when two of her advance staff members crossed a Culinary picket line during stays at the Palms in May and June. Warren later apologized and promised it wouldn’t happen again.
