A petition has been filed by slot machine technicians from Las Vegas’ Red Rock Resort for the chance to hold a vote to decertify their current union representative, the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 501.
The petition, spearheaded by technician Jereme Barrios, was filed to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) with help from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, a Washington D.C.-based workers’ rights organization. The exact number of technicians who signed the petition is unknown, but representatives from the legal foundation have confirmed that there are enough signatures to force a vote.
It is unclear at this time exactly when said vote would take place, but many are hopeful that it could come as soon as April. This expedited timeline is thanks in part to an NLRB policy change from 2020 that did away with “blocking charges,” which were notorious for significantly delaying decertification votes in the past.
Neither the IUOE nor Barrios have yet to comment publicly on the recent petition.
Red Rock and other Station Casinos properties are no strangers to labor disputes, especially in recent months. Raynell Traske, a Red Rock culinary employee, is also currently trying to uproot her department’s union representation, that being Culinary Local 226.
Station and Culinary 226 have a nasty, decades-long feud. The most recent development came in November of last year when the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a July ruling by U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro which forced good faith negotiations to take place between Culinary 226, their affiliate Bartenders Local 165 and Station Casinos until a federal labor board could make an official ruling on the matter.
With regards to the recent petition from Barrios and other Red Rock slot technicians, Culinary 226 representatives released a statement in support of IUOE Local 501, stating that they disagree with National Right to Work and their attempts to “interfere with Las Vegas labor matters.”
Stations Casinos and Local 226 have one of longest-standing labor disputes in the nation. Some trace the origins of this standoff all the way back to 1993, but relations have been especially strained since the mid-to-late 2000s when Station greatly expanded in Southern Nevada, building three casinos in a 10-year span and rejecting unionization efforts in all of them. The end goal for Culinary 226 and their affiliate Bartenders Local 165 has always been to form a contract with Station properties, but their efforts have largely been in vain as no agreement has been made to this point.
Employees from Red Rock Resort and other Station properties have repeatedly rejected what they view as compulsory unionization with protests and pickets, but 226 has demonstrated its staying power over the years by not backing down. Since 2002, they’ve organized a number of other casinos in and around Las Vegas, but Station properties remain elusive. In November of 2021, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s order for both sides to negotiate in good faith until a federal ruling could be reached, but Station employees from multiple sectors have already filed petitions to decertify Culinary 226 and others from their workplaces.
