Frontier GM rips union

Lynn Waddell

Friday, Jan. 30, 1998 | 9:24 a.m.

The likelihood of a strike settlement at the Frontier Hotel isn't good, as management and union officials continue to blame each other for failed negotiations.

The most recent barb was thrown by Frontier General Manager Tom Elardi, who issued a news release Thursday blasting the Culinary Union for bluffing during the most recent contract talks involving a fact-finder hired by the governor.

"The Frontier was shocked and angered to find out from a March 9th article in a local newspaper that the only major concession made by the union during nine months of fact-finding was a 'bluff' and a fraud," Elardi said. "The union now admits it never intended to implement its concession on health and welfare."

Elardi was alluding to comments by a Culinary leader who said he never intended to give up the union's health and welfare plan in place of one selected by the Frontier.

Gov. Bob Miller hired an outside fact-finder, Sam Kagel, to report on the strike's obstacles. The fact-finder's report released two weeks ago revealed that the union had offered to give up its health insurance program in lieu of one chosen by Frontier management.

Culinary Local 226 Secretary-Treasurer Jim Arnold said this week that the concession was made to prove that health insurance isn't the real issue in the ongoing strike.

"Mr. Kagel's report shows that the Frontier was just plain lying," the union said in a written statement. "The union called the Frontier's bluff on the health and welfare smoke screen."

During the two-year strike, Elardi has often said the union health plan was a stumbling block in negotiations. He claimed the Frontier could provide the same health benefits at a lower cost.

However, after the union agreed to give up its health plan, negotiations broke down because the Frontier refused to rehire more than 100 employees who management claimed misbehaved on the picket line.

Elardi said he was upset by the union's bluff to give up its health plan because management based many of its concessions on that.

"The union's admittedly fraudulent 'concession' was the motivation for the numerous concessions made by the Frontier during fact finding, enabling the parties to resolve 90 percent of the issues," Elardi said.

"It now turns out that the union was playing games with the governor, the fact finder, the community, the Frontier and, most importantly, with the employees of the Frontier."