Culinary message torments the Santa Fe

Brian Seals

Thursday, May 28, 1998 | 10:36 a.m.

The long-running feud between Culinary Union Local 226 and the Santa Fe hotel-casino hit home for many across the Las Vegas Valley this week -- via a union telephone message left by an automated telemarketing system.

Culinary Union organizer Kara Kelly said phone numbers targeted to receive the anti-casino message were in areas where the Santa Fe markets itself.

The message asks video poker and slot machine players how they could win with a company that lost $8.4 million over the last six months.

It was the latest salvo between the union and the neighborhood hotel-casino.

"The goal of this is to get a contract," Kelly said.

Santa Fe officials say the latest campaign has not hurt business, but did say they have received calls from people angry about getting the message.

"Few things anger Las Vegans more than a telemarketing message," said Santa Fe spokesman Andrew Klebanow.

Klebanow said he didn't understand the union's rationale of discouraging people from patronizing the casino -- where its members rely on tips as part of their wages.

"It bewilders me. If the Culinary Union was interested in the welfare of the people it represents, why would you discourage business from people who rely on tip income?" Klebanow asked.

The message says: "Slot and video poker players at the Santa Fe: We have an important message for you. Santa Fe Gaming, which owns the Santa Fe hotel, lost $8.4 million in the last six months. Do you think you can win from a company that loses money?"

Klebanow called the loss a "paper" loss of the hotel-casino's parent company, Santa Fe Gaming Corp.

"We certainly have enough money to do business," he said. "It doesn't effect the public or the gaming public."

Negotiations between the two sides have not been productive. Klebanow said the Santa Fe is awaiting response on its latest compensation package, which he termed "competitive." However, Kelly called the hotel-casino's latest proposals "insulting."

"The wage they propose is far behind other neighborhood casinos," Kelly said.

Workers at the hotel-casino voted to join the union in October 1993 by a 40-vote margin. The company challenged the vote, but the U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the tally in 1996. The parties have never reached a contract agreement.

The two sides last negotiated in April, and before that March 31.

The union reached agreements for most of its Strip properties workers in March. The agreement included a 25-cent per hour raise retroactive to June 1997 and a 30-cent raise effective June 1 of this year. A 30-cent per hour raise would follow in 1999 and a 35-cent per hour raise in the two subsequent years at those Strip properties. The union has approximately 40,000 members.