Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Ex-banking official disputes union flier

A past two-term president of the Nevada Banking Association defended a small Las Vegas bank under attack by union members for its connection with the anti-labor Santa Fe hotel-casino.

Bank executive William Martin said Monday that a start-up institution such as Commercial Bank of Nevada is expected to lose money in its first few years of business.

The bank, where Santa Fe owner Sue Lowden sits as a board member, has lost about $1 million from December 1994 to September 1995, Culinary Union leaders contend.

"Commercial Bank has reported a net loss every quarter since it opened," a union flier asserts. "Your business works hard for its money. Don't you want a bank that knows how to make a profit?"

The Culinary Union has targeted Commercial Bank and Community Bank to call greater attention to its labor struggles with Lowden and Frontier hotel-casino owner Margaret Elardi, who is a member of Community Bank.

The union, banking association and Nevada attorney general are wrapped in a legal battle over the fliers, aimed, in part, at encouraging a boycott of the banks because of their connection to the casinos.

"It's a dangerous game to play, hoping to bring harm to a financial institution," said Martin, referring to "bank runs," in which negative information about a bank prompts many customers to withdraw money at the same time, causing the financial institution to collapse.

U.S. District Judge Lloyd George listened to Martin's testimony Monday during a hearing on whether to grant the union immunity against a state law that makes derogatory statements against banks a gross misdemeanor.

Earlier, the judge granted a temporary restraining order in favor of the union, which sued Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa to stop her from referring its members for criminal prosecution.

"Conduct may be irresponsible without being illegal," George said Monday.

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