Columnist Jeff German: Worker morale hits rock bottom at convention authority

Saturday, April 25, 1998 | 4:24 a.m.

JEFF GERMAN is a senior investigative reporter. His column also appears in the Las Vegas SUN on Tuesdays and Thursdays. He can be reached at 259-4067 or on the Internet at german@lasvegassun.com

THE Facilities Division is the largest and most important arm of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, the taxpayer-funded agency empowered to attract tourists here.

More than 250 of the LVCVA's 400 workers are employed there in security, groundskeeping, maintenance, trade and service jobs.

The people in facilities are the ones who have direct contact with the millions of conventioneers who come to Las Vegas each year. When they're happy in facilities, life is more pleasant for the conventioneers.

Lately, however, scores of facilities workers haven't been happy. Morale is said to have dipped to an all-time low.

"People have done excellent jobs for years, and all of a sudden they're useless human beings in the eyes of management," one veteran worker says.

The reported cavalier attitude toward the employees has gotten so bad, many say they no longer enjoy going to work.

An April 14 column here on the plight of one downtrodden LVCVA employee, Jean Goldberg, led to an outpouring of calls and visits from other convention workers who told similar stories of management abuse.

Most of these workers -- some of whom are longtime veterans and supervisors representing still more disgruntled employees -- asked that their identities be protected out of fear of retaliation from management.

All were inspired by Goldberg's determination to fight what she believed was her unfair treatment in facilities.

Goldberg, a 57-year-old supervisor demoted to receptionist, recently persuaded an independent arbitrator to overturn a ludicrous five-day suspension that cost her part of her salary and a merit pay raise.

She fought the suspension knowing it would put her further in the doghouse with her bosses.

Her fellow workers admire her immensely for standing up for her rights.

They say that it is why they have decided to step forward to corroborate Goldberg's gloomy assessment of life inside the Facilities Division.

"It's like a headhunting party down there," an experienced worker says. "No matter what you do, they find fault with it."

Morale is said to be low in at least three of the four Facilities Division departments under the wing of Tom Smith, the LVCVA's vice president of facilities.

Sharon McCleod, director of facilities at the convention center, Steve Stoney, director of buildings and grounds, and Don Ahl, director of security, and several of their managers all have received criticism from the workers.

The workers say most of the managers aren't treating them equally. Some shifts are favored over others, and nepotism has become a problem throughout the division.

Some managers, they say, aren't even qualified to hold their supervisory positions.

High on their list of concerns is the wave of paranoia management has created among the workers.

"People are afraid to speak up or complain because they know management will retaliate against them," a veteran worker says.

The worker says some are rewarded for "snitching" on other employees.

"They've created a hostile working environment," another employee says. "It just seems to be getting progressively worse."

Rob Powers, the LVCVA's public relations director, says the agency does not like to talk about personnel matters.

Through Powers, Smith declined comment.

"Mr. Smith believes it's unfair to expect him to respond to anonymous grievances in the media," Powers says.

There are several explanations for the decline in morale at the LVCVA.

The employees believe management just has turned callous.

But among management, there's talk the grumblings may be related to the start of contract negotiations between the LVCVA and the Service Employees International Union, which represents about 150 of the facilities workers.

The current contract expires at the end of June, and negotiations have gotten off to a slow start. Both sides couldn't even agree on ground rules for the discussions.

Part of the problem appears to be related to a change in management style a couple of years ago.

The LVCVA, at the direction of its board, decided to operate the agency like a private, rather than a public, business to better compete on the open market.

Workers in the public sector often are rewarded just for surviving in their jobs. In private business, raises are earned through superior performance.

Pay hikes for all nonunion members now are based on merit, and there's talk the LVCVA may try to negotiate a similar pact with the SEIU this time around.

Feelings about the union are mixed among the unhappy facilities employees. Some believe the union has been helpful in fighting the tougher management approach. But others say it has been ineffective.

One ranking SEIU official, however, acknowledges workers in facilities are getting the short end of the stick from their bosses.

"Some of the managers in that division have the attitude that they can do whatever they want to whomever they want without regard for the contract," the official says. "Morale definitely is low."

That's bad news for Southern Nevada's lucrative convention business.