Editorial: Probe of Frontier overdue

Thursday, Sept. 25, 1997 | 9:23 a.m.

IT'S about time an outside body looks at the Culinary Union's six-year strike against the Frontier hotel-casino.

The Las Vegas SUN first reported allegations ranging from casino owners spying on workers to breaking the law last December. And while the charges flew back and forth between the Frontier owners and union in the nation's longest-running strike, various local and state agencies sat on their hands.

Each -- from Metro Police to the state Gaming Control Board -- said it was someone else's responsibility or jurisdiction to investigate the goings-on.

Now, finally, someone is listening, and it may shake the very core of Nevada's No. 1 industry. At issue is whether the Frontier owners are suitable to hold a casino license because of all the problems before and during the strike.

Indeed, when AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka on Tuesday announced the creation of a national AFL-CIO committee to investigate the Frontier, he said the fact that the hotel owners still hold a license "raises serious questions about the Nevada regulatory system."

Trumka accused the Frontier of breaking federal labor laws and state health and safety and money-laundering regulations.

Not to mention allegations that the SUN pointed out last December, including charges of illegal wiretapping, tampering with court records and beatings conducted by Frontier security guards. The SUN earlier reported misconduct on the part of several strikers.

There was a caveat in Nevada's gaming regulations that any hotel-casino owner who brings disrepute to Nevada and its gaming industry should have the license revoked.

However, gaming regulators chose not to conduct hearings on the allegations.

Maybe some of us have been too close to the situation, and should welcome a thorough investigation by an independent outside panel. Especially since its members include heavyweights such as former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, former Sen. Howard Metzenbaum, D-Ohio, and prominent political, civil rights and religious leaders.

Among them are NAACP President Kweisi Mfume and Monsignor George Higgins of the Catholic University of America.

Such an investigation is overdue.