Culinary nears deal with LV Hilton properties

Brian Seals

Monday, April 20, 1998 | 10:22 a.m.

Culinary Union Local 226 will be back at the negotiating table this week with a major Strip property and with a neighborhood casino.

Negotiations are scheduled today through Wednesday with the Santa Fe hotel-casino and Friday with Hilton properties: the Las Vegas Hilton, the Flamingo Hilton and Bally's. Hilton is also building the Paris hotel-casino on the Strip.

The union struck deals last month with properties owned by Circus Circus Enterprises, the Mirage, Starwood and Harrah's that covered more than 18,000 of the union's 40,000 workers. A deal with Hilton properties would place about 6,000 more union workers under contract.

Culinary Union Secretary-Treasurer Jim Arnold said the two sides were near an agreement.

"We're really close with the Hilton," Arnold said. "It's only a guess, but I think we're close to getting it worked out."

Hilton executives could not be reached for comment.

Arnold said things don't look as promising with the Santa Fe. Workers there voted to join the Culinary by a 40-vote margin in October 1993. However, the parties have yet to reach a contract since then. The hotel challenged the vote and the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., upheld the vote in 1996.

About 400 Santa Fe workers would be covered under a Culinary Union contract.

Throughout their relationship, there have been charges of who is responsible for the delay in reaching an agreement. The two sides last negotiated March 31.

The union doesn't expect a breakthrough there this week. "As far as I'm concerned they're just playing games," Arnold said.

Said Santa Fe spokesman Andrew Klebanow: "We are negotiating in good faith. We're going to live up to the spirit and letter of the law."

The contract with the Mirage properties garnered union members a 25-cent per hour raise retroactive to June 1997 and another 30-cent raise effective June 1 of this year. That would be followed by a 30-cent per hour raise in 1999 and a 35-cent per hour raise in the two subsequent years. The deal also continued the union's 45 cent per hour pension rate and enabled employees to establish 401(k) plans that would receive no matching contributions from the company.

Arnold said the union wanted to use that contract to set the standards for subsequent negotiations.