Unions in Las Vegas were very active last week.
About 1,500 Las Vegas casino dealers from Bally’s, Harrah’s, Paris and Wynn Las Vegas voted over the weekend to switch their union affiliation from the smaller Transport Workers Union of America to the more muscular United Auto Workers (UAW.) They could be followed by several hundred dealers at Caesars Palace, who are taking a vote this week.
This action wasn’t contested by the TWU leadership, which after the workers in January requested to end their affiliation, recommended that they seek membership with the UAW. Despite its name, the UAW has more of a history of organizing casino employees.
The TWU leadership wrote in January, “Disaffiliation is not something that the TWU takes lightly, and this course of action is unprecedented. However, our International Executive Council recognizes that this is an extremely unique situation. Foremost in our decision is that the casino industry is not among the core sectors where the TWU organizes.”
The UAW currently represents more than 8,000 casino employees in nine states, including Nevada. Besides dealers, it also represents slot technicians, hosts and cashiers.
UAW President Gary Jones hailed the votes: “We welcome our new UAW sisters and brothers to the UAW family. We expect another successful vote from Caesars’ workers next week,.”
The UAW has 400,000 members nationwide, compared to 140,000 for the TWU.
One of the dealers who led the effort, Kanie Kastroll, who works at Wynn Las Vegas, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal, “We Wynn dealers are happy to have had such a strong vote outcome in support of the UAW. We are looking forward to being backed by a strong union known for its great servicing and representation of its members. Dealers at a five-star property deserve a five-star union.”
Meanwhile, nationwide union picketing of business partners of Palms Casino Resort Las Vegas will take place in eight cities to exert pressure on the Palms to recognize the vote of its employees to unionize. The cities include San Francisco, Cleveland, Honolulu, New Haven, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., and Las Vegas.
“The federal government has certified our union as the bargaining representative after a free and fair election in which workers voted overwhelmingly in favor of representation,” declared Geoconda Argüello-Kline, secretary-treasurer for the Culinary Union, which represents about 50,000 workers in Las Vegas. “We call on the Palms to begin contract negotiations immediately.”
Almost a year ago employees of Palms voted 84 percent to unionize in an election that was overseen by the National Labor Relations Board. The Palms, which is owned by Station Casinos, has refused to recognize the results of the election. Federal labor law allows for secondary picketing in such situations.
Station Casinos is a subsidiary of Red Rock Resorts, Inc., which is controlled by billionaires Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta.
The practical effect of the picketing is that celebrity chefs such as Marc Vetri and Michael Symon’s Mabel’s BBQ restaurant in Cleveland will find picketers in front of their establishments far from Las Vegas. Also targeted will be Tim Ho Wan Dim Sum restaurant in New York.
The picketing won’t be limited to restaurants. It will include the law firm that helped Palms’ owners buy mega-yachts and America First Action Inc. a political action committee (PAC) that the Fertittas contributed to.
The idea is that business partners of the Palms owners will apply pressure to them to honor the union certification.
Station Casino has also declined to recognize a union election at Green Valley Ranch in Henderson, Nevada and has instead appealed the election through the NLRB and in the courts. The NLRB has since ruled that Station has been “failing and refusing to bargain collectively and in good faith” with the union and “engaged in unfair labor practices.”
