Friday, April 3, 1998 | 10:28 a.m.
A group of non-union hotel and restaurant employees have formed a corporation to spread the word that workers don't have to join unions and that union members have the right to resign and demand that dues quit being taken from their paychecks.
Nevada Employees for the Right to Work Inc. (NERW) formally incorporated Wednesday.
The non-profit organization opened an office at 4535 W. Sahara Ave., Suite 108, and has begun conducting meetings twice a week with disgruntled union members and anyone else seeking information about their right to work.
In the early stages of its development, NERW is being funded by the Nevada Association of Independent Businesses (NAIB), which also is providing consulting services, according to NAIB Executive Director Phil Stout.
"We are a catalyst," Stout said. "Many workers had called us so we asked to meet with them."
The result of that meeting was the NERW, which Stout said may be the only organization of its kind in the state.
The purposes of the corporation are to be "a clearinghouse of information on how to resign from the union; to provide a forum for discussing workers' rights; to help workers find free legal assistance related to workers' rights issues; and to correct union lies."
Jim Arnold, secretary-treasurer of Culinary Union Local 226, says the new organization is nothing more than a front group for the NAIB and others supporting right-to-work and opposing unions. In other words, people "with their own agendas."
He said the ones who formed the organization represent "only a handful" of people while "40,000-plus are enjoying being union members. Those that are happy outweigh that small group."
Bruce Esgar, a porter at the MGM Grand hotel-casino and an ardent opponent of unionization activities, helped create NERW.
He said the NERW has 500 letters from union members at several hotel-casinos withdrawing from the union and demanding that their employers stop withholding union dues from their paychecks.
According to Esgar, union members have intimidated non-union employees and union members who want out.
Wayne Wellington, a 38-year-old bar porter at The Mirage hotel-casino, said the union has failed to protect him in situations in which he was being harassed by a fellow worker and also a supervisor and that he has been warned by associates to watch his back since he began speaking out against the union.
Wellington, a union member for six years, said he turned in his union withdrawal papers Tuesday night at an NERW meeting.
"The union has taken me from at first being a non-believer in unions to becoming a union supporter and then turning me around to being against unions," Wellington said. "People are telling me the union is gunning for me now."
Esgar said when employees are first hired they are told they must join the union if they want benefits and that dues must be withheld from their checks.
Arnold said those were false accusations.
"Everybody knows Nevada is a right-to-work state and that no employee is required to join the union," he said.
Jennifer Berkowitz, an NAIB employee from San Francisco who is in Las Vegas to help the NERW to get off the ground, disputes Arnold's claim.
"The union has told people if they resign from the union they will lose their benefits. That is not true," she said.
And, she said, the NERW is not a front for the NAIB.
"It is 99 percent workers, then Phil (Stout) and I," Berkowitz said.
She said the NAIB is offering the fledgling organization advice, information and a little financial support.
The National Right-to-Work Legal Defense Foundation says it will provide legal representation for anyone involved in a right-to-work issue.
There will be fund-raising activities in the future.
There is no NERW membership at this time, but the corporation is considering becoming a dues-paying membership organization.
And there are no NERW employees, though Berkowitz said she believes there will be enough activity in the future for a full-time worker.
For now she, NERW board members and workers supportive of NERW goals are conducting meetings twice a week -- one during the day and one at night so all shift workers may have the opportunity to attend.
"A lot of time at the meetings are spent sharing experiences," Berkowitz said.
Andrew Sparks, another MGM employee, said many people believe union organizers at face value.
"People from many different parts of the country come to Las Vegas to work," Sparks said. "Some are from union states, and they are intimidated by what the unions are saying and doing."
NERW supporters emphasized they are not "anti-union," only in favor of an even playing field and a right to choose whether to have a union.
D. Taylor, staff director of Culinary Local 226, said apparently the NERW group is trying to make Las Vegas one big "Ark restaurant," referring to the restaurant chain that has a contract with New York-New York hotel-casino to operate its food services.
Ark Las Vegas Restaurant Corp. is a non-union company that has been the focus of unionization efforts in recent months, especially since the Frontier hotel-casino strike was settled and the Culinary Union has been able to put its time and effort on other activities.
"Ark Restaurant employees earn $3 to $5 less an hour than employees in union companies," Taylor noted.
Taylor said if not for strong unions in Las Vegas, this city would be similar to Laughlin, where unions have less of an impact.
"It's a tale of two cities," he said. "Laughlin has the same industry as Las Vegas, but Laughlin employees have horrendous working conditions and pay. They have no job security.
"Las Vegas is a fairly heavily unionized town. Because of the unions here, workers can have a decent standard of living.
"We view the future of this town as a union future."
Taylor denied the NERW's allegations of harassment and lies.
"(The anti-union workers) have filed numerous charges (with the National Labor Relations Board) and all have proven not to be true," Taylor said. "Our members are very proud of their achievements."
Lloyd Wells, a former member of the Culinary Union, said he is not against unions because if not for them "we wouldn't be drawing the wages we are getting now."
But, he said, he opposes union tactics that include harassment, intimidation and lies. "At MGM, we never got a chance to vote on whether or not to have union representation."
Stout said creation of the NERW "will encourage the union to be more open and fair. If we can make the unions more accountable we will be better off."
"We want to make the unions accountable, then the playing field will be level and they will lose," Sparks said.
He believes once workers learn their rights, a floodgate will open and union members will resign in great numbers.
"It's going to take time. It's a big hill we have to climb, but each day that hill gets a little smaller," Sparks said.
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