Columnist Jeff German: Gamers try to avert GOP-labor war

Saturday, Jan. 17, 1998 | 7:07 a.m.

SINCE we last chatted a week ago, casino industry big shots have launched frantic efforts to head off a showdown between organized labor and the Nevada Republican Party.

The GOP, in a move that could hurt its top candidate for governor, Kenny Guinn, is gearing up to launch a petition drive to prohibit unions from making political donations without membership approval.

In retaliation, the AFL-CIO is looking to push a ballot initiative to ban corporate contributions without a vote of their shareholders.

That's being perceived as a campaign against the casino industry, which is the largest single contributor to political races in the state.

Spearheading the GOP petition drive is state Chairman John Mason, who has been coming under increasing criticism from mainstream Republicans supporting the labor-friendly Guinn.

Many inside the Guinn campaign, organized labor and the casino industry believe Mason is getting his marching orders from Las Vegas Sands Inc. Chairman Sheldon Adelson, who's locked in a battle with the Culinary Union, one of the biggest contributors to political races among labor organizations.

Mason and other party leaders, however, have denied that Adelson, a major Republican donor, is pulling the strings.

Amid all the drum-beating, a secret powwow occurred last week between top labor and gaming leaders. The meeting took place in the office of Billy Vassiliadis, a gaming lobbyist and Guinn adviser. Joining Vassiliadis were Nevada AFL-CIO boss Blackie Evans; his top political operative, Danny Thompson; Nevada Resort Association President Richard Bunker and Culinary Union Political Director Glen Arnodo. Top Guinn strategist Sig Rogich also participated by telephone.

The sit-down was called so that Guinn's campaign and the casino industry could reaffirm its opposition to the GOP's anti-labor ballot initiative.

Word has gotten back to the industry that the Republicans might announce the campaign later this week. It could be timed with the release of a GOP poll that reportedly shows that voters favor limiting labor's political contributions.

Gaming honchos asked the labor leaders to keep their powder dry while efforts continue behind the scenes to weaken the petition drive before it gets started.

Despite some pockets of unrest, there's a general belief that labor and the business community have enjoyed a good working relationship in recent years. Nobody wants to see that relationship damaged because of a vendetta against unions by a small faction of the Republican Party.

For Guinn, the potential fallout for the GOP campaign is twofold. It could harm his chances of landing the AFL-CIO's endorsement, and it could bring more Democrats out to vote in November.

The current brouhaha, meanwhile, comes at a sensitive time for the Culinary Union, which has rented the Thomas & Mack Center Feb. 5 to discuss dues with its 40,000-plus members.

The union wants a $7-a-month increase per member -- put in place six years ago to fund the Frontier strike -- to remain in effect to keep its war chest heavy for future labor disputes.

Culinary officials will present their case in two mass meetings at the Thomas & Mack.

As for Evans and company, last week's meeting is likely to be reassuring. But there's no telling how long labor will keep its powder dry.

It all depends on whether the big shots can bring Mason to his senses.

Gov. Bob Miller will help the Culinary Union celebrate the end of its six-year Frontier strike later this month.

Miller expects to be on hand for a late-night block party outside the Strip hotel-casino Jan. 31.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., who pushed for state sanctions against the outgoing Frontier regime during the epic labor dispute, also is clearing his schedule to participate in the festivities.

The nation's longest strike officially will be over at 12:01 a.m. Feb. 1, when Kansas industrialist Phil Ruffin takes over.

Ruffin became a hero to the labor movement after he bought the resort from Margaret Elardi for $165 million and agreed to reopen it under a union contract.

Last week, the state Gaming Control Board, in record time, approved Ruffin as the new owner. This week, the Nevada Gaming Commission gets to give him its blessing.

There's no word, meanwhile, on whether Miller and Reid will march into the New Frontier with the striking Culinary Union members, who've stayed away since Sept. 21, 1991.

But they might get caught up in the excitement.

A couple of national heavyweights, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Richard Trumka, the No. 2 man in the AFL-CIO, plan to join the strikers, as they head into the hotel. Trumka and Jackson walked the picket line several times during the past six years.

It took its time, but justice finally was served in the Ron Harris case.

Harris, a Gaming Control Board computer whiz who turned slot cheat, got a stiff, seven-year prison term last week for his crimes against the state.

Some, however, believe it wasn't enough.

Harris pleaded guilty to one of the worst things a public employee could do -- use his official duties for his own personal gain.

In the coming months, he'll have a lot of time to think about the embarrassment he has caused Nevada and its gaming industry.