Culinary turns up the heat

Friday, Jan. 30, 1998 | 9:29 a.m.

The Culinary Union, backed by scores of elected officials and civic leaders, is mounting a public campaign to force an end to its long-standing labor dispute with the Frontier hotel-casino.

In full-page ads expected to appear in local newspapers Friday, the union is running an open letter urging both sides to agree to binding arbitration so a settlement can be reached in the 32-month-long strike.

In all, 85 public officials and leading citizens -- including Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa, Sheriff John Moran and Rep. James Bilbray -- have allowed their names to be listed in the letter.

"The Frontier strike must end now," the letter states. "The negative publicity and disruption caused by this 32-month strike is bad for Las Vegas, especially as gaming competition spreads nationwide, and as Nevada faces renewed threats of gaming regulation and taxation."

The letter states that Sam Kagel, a respected fact-finder appointed by Gov. Bob Miller, recently concluded that the Frontier was an "obstacle" to a settlement.

"We call upon the Frontier and the unions to end the strike by submitting all unresolved issues to binding arbitration," the letter states. "If either party refuses arbitration, we believe that the full force of community opinion should be brought to bear on that party in whatever legal ways possible."

At the end of the letter, the Culinary's Frontier negotiating committee says it supports the call for binding arbitration.

"We will agree to whatever fair and equitable process it will take to end this dispute immediately," the committee states.

Frontier General Manager Tom Elardi could not be reached for comment today.

Miller today praised the union's public campaign.

"I'm glad to see that so many people are speaking out on this issue," Miller said. "It's evident from the negotiations and the conclusions reached by Mr. Kagel that the hotel management does not want to settle the strike.

"It's important for the community to put pressure on both parties to get them to the table and get this resolved."

Thirty state lawmakers are listed on the Culinary Union letter.

All seven county commissioners and four Las Vegas City Council members also are listed.

Absent from the list, however, is Las Vegas Mayor Jan Laverty Jones, a Democratic gubernatorial candidate who is close to the Elardi family, which owns the Frontier.

Jones had no comment today other than to say, "I certainly support bringing an end to the strike."

Others listed in the union's latest appeal include Jesse Scott, president of the Las Vegas NAACP, attorney Michael Cherry of the Jewish Federation of Las Vegas, and numerous religious and labor leaders.

Culinary officials have been soliciting support for their cause behind the scenes for the past several months.

Jim Arnold, secretary-treasurer of the Culinary Union, said more than 400 prominent Nevadans agreed to lend their names to the letter, but not all could be published this week. The rest will be printed at a later date, he said.

"This isn't saying the union's right or the Elardis are right," Arnold said. "This is saying this dispute needs to be settled for the sake of the community and the state of Nevada.

"We've tried everything in the world to get this thing resolved."

In letters asking for the support of the public officials and influential citizens, Arnold said the fact-finder found that Frontier officials were bargaining in bad faith and were unreasonable in their dealings with about 500 striking Frontier employees.

Still to be resolved are the issues of wages and whether the Frontier will agree to hire back workers participating in the strike.