Staying union-free in the nation’s hottest union city

Brian Seals

Friday, June 5, 1998 | 10:34 a.m.

Las Vegas has been called "the hottest union town in America" by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney. That distinction does more than attract union organizers.

The city's reputation as a hotbed of union activity landed it a seminar on "How to Stay Union Free Into the 21st Century," sponsored by a New York-based seminar company, Executive Enterprises. The two-day seminar at the Crowne Plaza ended Thursday.

"We try to go to locations that are targeted for union organizing," said Susan Rizzi, vice president of program operations for Executive Enterprises.

The company offers about 20 such seminars a year on this topic and last came to Las Vegas in October. This week, about 35 people attended the sessions that cost $1,195 per person. Rizzi would not disclose whether any of those people attending represented Las Vegas companies.

That kind of confidentiality is also practiced in Executive Enterprises' marketing for the event. The seminars are advertised through direct mail aimed at a variety of industries -- sent in covered envelopes.

"There's some people that don't like to receive envelopes on non-union status," Rizzi said.

The seminar offers various hour-long courses to help companies maintain their union-free work force. Attorneys with the nationwide law firm of Jackson, Lewis, Schnitzler and Krupmen, a firm devoted to representing management in the field of labor relations, conduct the seminars.

Included in the offerings are courses on how to respond to new union organizing techniques and a segment titled "How to Take Advantage of Recent Changes in Labor Board Procedures."

However, Michael Lotito and Harrison Darby, attorneys conducting the seminar in Las Vegas, say their message is a positive one. They say they encourage management to create an "issue-free" work environment so that union organization becomes irrelevant.

"It's a very pro-employee message," Lotito said.

Lotito said they inform employers that management cannot discriminate against workers talking about organization. He points out that such opinions among workers are usually a sign of work conditions management can address.

But union organizers are skeptical, saying consultation to management on union organizing has become a big industry.

"Over the last 10 years there's been an explosion of these types of seminars," said Chris Woods of the AFL-CIO's organizing department in Washington. "In Vegas, I think what we are seeing is in direct response to the Building Trades Organizing Project and the expansion of the Culinary Union in the hotel-casino industry."

BTOP is organizing construction workers in the Las Vegas Valley and the Culinary Union is the area's largest labor group. BTOP spokeswoman Karen Conner finds it ironic the amount of money companies pay to avoid unionization.

"A company will pay money to go to these seminars rather than pay their workers," said Conner, who's with the AFL-CIO's Building Trades Organizing Project. "I don't get it."

Conner questioned the value of such seminars. "There's not a trick in the book that we haven't come across on a daily basis," Conner said.

Teamsters Local 995 organizer Ray Isner said companies have the right to want to stay non-union. At the same time, however, workers have the right to organize.

"All these classes are about preventing these employees from exercising their rights," Isner said.

Darby and Lotito bristle, though, when asked if they are "union busters." They say any lawyer whose career focuses on representing management will face that charge. Darby notes the AFL-CIO trains organizers.

"We don't refer to them as company busters," he said.

While seminars have become popular, organizations like the Associated Builders and Contractors, an outfit devoted to open shops, advise their clients on an ongoing basis. ABC Southern Nevada Chapter Executive Director Larry Litchfield said his organization isn't out to put unions out of business, but to assist its members.

"We educate our members through our 'Fighting Back' seminars on how to avoid an NLRB charge," Litchfield said.

Darby and Lotito say that is part of their mission as well. "We try to tell them what they lawfully can and cannot do," Darby said. "A lot of them are unfamiliar with the National Labor Relations Act."

The pair concedes the seminars give their law firm exposure. If a company that has attended a seminar gets into a labor dispute, they hope their firm will be remembered and retained. But they say their audience is too sophisticated for blatant recruiting.

"If you make a direct pitch, it turns everybody off," Lotito said.