Culinary agitates for contracts at downtown casinos

Brian Seals

Monday, Dec. 21, 1998 | 11:40 a.m.

A Culinary Union official says the union will step up activity against several downtown Las Vegas hotel-casinos after the first of the year to prompt movement on contract negotiations.

That plan surprised some casino executives.

The union rallied and passed out leaflets downtown Thursday night to draw attention to the situation, said Culinary staff director D. Taylor.

"We have several contracts that are unsettled and may have not moved in the right direction for a lot of these workers," Taylor said.

New contracts are being sought with Jackie Gaughan-owned hotel-casinos the Union Plaza, the Las Vegas Club and the El Cortez as well as Fitzgeralds, the Golden Gate and the Harrah's Entertainment-owned Showboat on the Boulder Highway.

Thursday's rally surprised some casino officials.

"We never expected the union to do this," said Ed Serran, director of marketing at Fitzgeralds. "We thought we were on the right track."

Serran said the union approached Fitzgeralds in October about commencing negotiations and the parties have had "two major" negotiating sessions.

"We're trying as hard as we can to negotiate a contract," Serran said. "The last thing we want to do is prolong this."

Showboat hotel-casino officials said they had been negotiating for about 60 days.

"We actually have an offer on the table," said Showboat COO John Zimmerman.

Zimmerman said the Showboat is offering an 85 cents per hour raise over three years, noting the Showboat has to compete with non-union properties on the Boulder Highway. That offer is the same amount negotiated for Strip and other downtown properties, except those were five-year deals that included a 35 cent per hour raise each of the last two years.

The hotel-casinos targeted by the union represent between 2,500 and 3,000 Culinary members, Taylor said. The workers have worked about 18 months under an old contract. Agreements reached with other properties this year have resulted in retroactive pay raises.

Taylor said the union wants contracts that will "level the playing field" for hotel-casinos that have agreements in place.

In September, the union reached an agreement with the Horseshoe hotel-casino that saw workers get a $1.55 per hour wage increase over a five-year period. The union earlier this year also secured agreements with downtown properties the Four Queens, Fremont and Main Street Station.

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