Labor tension grows at LVCVA

Wednesday, Sept. 9, 1998 | 11:10 a.m.

More than 100 union employees clad in purple T-shirts pressed the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority on Tuesday for higher pay and continued funding of health plans for dependents.

Both sides say they'll resume negotiations Friday, but it's apparent that rifts between the two groups may have grown after the Nevada Service Employees Union's appearance at the LVCVA meeting.

At issue is whether the LVCVA's compensation package offer is satisfactory to the union, which represents 5,000 workers in Southern Nevada, including LVCVA employees, Housing Authority workers in Las Vegas and North Las Vegas and health-care workers at two hospitals.

The LVCVA board is prohibited from participating directly in the collective bargaining process, but commissioners asked for an update on negotiations when union representatives addressed the board during a public comment period.

On the table is a plan that offers up to 7 percent pay increases every year for three years for less-experienced employees and up to 2 percent increases a year for the most experienced workers. The average LVCVA worker makes about $36,000 a year.

The package offers a combination of cost-of-living increases, merit pay and a one-time cash bonus for signing the deal. LVCVA negotiators also want to modify employees' contributions to dependents' insurance packages from a flat amount of about $60 a month to a percentage of the total cost of the premium.

The LVCVA staff says the health-care package would cost the same, but the union says the move is a ploy for workers to absorb future cost increases. Under the package, the agency would continue to pay all the employees' medical insurance and all contributions to retirement and SIIS coverage.

LVCVA negotiators say the deal is fair, especially since agency revenues are down due to tourism rates that have been flat. The union counters that LVCVA managers -- particularly Executive Director Manny Cortez -- are among the top paid employees in the state.

In another union matter, commissioners unanimously approved policies they hope will solve issues raised earlier this year by the Teamsters union.

The Teamsters said trade show exhibitors were inviting co-workers and secretaries to convention centers to help set up booths. Union officials said they and a number of free-lance laborers were not conforming to LVCVA insurance rules and were taking jobs away from local workers.

The new policies formalized rules, fees and enforcement procedures to crack down on unqualified labor.