Unions want to join LVCVA-Adelson lawsuit

Friday, July 23, 1999 | 11:29 a.m.

The Culinary Workers and Bartenders union locals filed motions Thursday saying the Venetian resort's bid to block a Las Vegas Convention Center expansion will cost union members' jobs.

Venetian owner Sheldon Adelson has sued to block the 1.3 million-square-foot expansion, in part because of his fears it would take business away from his Sands Expo Center and the Venetian's convention area.

Due largely to Adelson's lawsuit, underwriters postponed the sale of $150 million of tax-exempt bonds the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority planned to issue to finance the expansion. A hearing on the suit is scheduled for Aug. 2 in District Court.

In motions asking permission to intervene in the case, the unions said 150 to 180 members staff events at the Convention Center in an average week and could lose their jobs if the expansion isn't completed and trade show promoters opt to take their business to other cities.

A loss of convention business would affect other hotels in town, according to the briefs. In addition, the expansion itself would employ another 100 to 125 union members, the motions said.

"Because the Venetian's suit casts a cloud over the authority's ability to sell the bonds and begin construction, the court should immediately address the merits of the Venetian's claims," the unions said.

"Normal litigation delay should not provide the Venetian the same result as winning the suit -- namely, blocking the center's expansion so the Venetian can go on taking away the center's clientele."

The union motions also assert that the Venetian's lawsuit relies on old state laws and ignores a new act that allows the LVCVA to issue revenue bonds with "no further approval by any person, board or commission."

Many convention promoters have supported the LVCVA expansion plans because they have to pay up to three times as much to stage trade shows at the Sands Expo Center.

The Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce and the Nevada Resort Association, which represent many major hotel-casino operators, also have endorsed the expansion.

And Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., said he's been meeting with House Majority Whip Tom DeLay of Texas to voice his objections to a bill introduced by DeLay that would prevent the LVCVA from issuing tax-exempt bonds to finance the convention center expansion.

"It is my intention to educate Mr. DeLay on this matter further and I look forward to working with him to see that this bill does not pass the House," Gibbons said.

DeLay has complained the tax-exempt financing mechanism amounts to a subsidy for convention center renters and makes it harder for cities with existing convention centers, like Houston, to compete for such business.