Editorial: Let’s end hotel-casino walkout

Friday, Jan. 30, 1998 | 9:53 a.m.

AFTER 45 long and exasperating months, there's still no end in sight to the bitter union dispute at the Frontier Hotel. It never should have happened in the first place.

This strike could have been avoided if it hadn't been for the reluctance of the management to get serious in the negotiations.

Last week, the management of the hotel received a major setback in its standoff with the 550 workers who walked off the job in September 1991. An administrative law judge ruled that the Frontier's unfair labor practices prompted the strike and it was illegal for the hotel to hire permanent replacement workers.

The ruling means the replacement workers cannot be considered permanent until the strike is settled and the strikers are rehired. Depending on the outcome of an appeal, the striking workers consider it an important victory.

The Frontier management's attitude toward union demands for basic employee benefits has been in stark contrast with other hotels on the Strip. Many managers negotiate in good faith for all parties' advantage. The Frontier had six months to resolve the issues -- and should have known what was coming -- before its frustrated employees set up picket lines.

After that, management's tactic was to wear down the pickets until they tired of the game and found other jobs. Some indeed have found jobs, since strike pay is meager, but more than 200 of them still find time to man the picket lines.

State and local officials have made several unsuccessful attempts to reach a settlement on health and welfare benefits, including hiring a fact-finder. An attempt at negotiations last year failed as each side accused the other of not bargaining in good faith.

The workers aren't the only ones to suffer. Tourists also want to avoid trouble and that translates into less business. In the past four years, the SUN has received letters from several irate tourists, claiming incidents surrounding the strike had soured them on the community.

The strike has disrupted the Strip with demonstrations, cost valuable police time monitoring the pickets and, on occasion, has turned violent, placing a pall on the city's image as a fun place to visit.

It's well past time to put this debacle to rest. Management must realize that, with this latest ruling, the strikers are not going to disappear and that everyone will lose in a protracted dispute.

The two parties owe it to themselves and their community to make this strike history