Dispute with Culinary escalates into blood feud status

John Wilen

Tuesday, May 4, 1999 | 9:29 a.m.

Unlike the other megaresorts that have opened in Las Vegas over the past year, the Venetian is in the center of a storm of controversy over its relations with the Culinary Union.

The union and Venetian owner Sheldon Adelson are at odds over so many issues, the resort seems destined to be besieged by almost constant union protests, rallies and picket lines. Indeed, the disagreement has the aura more of a blood feud than a simple labor dispute.

At this point it's difficult to see what, if anything, could compel the two sides to settle their differences.

"It's gotten beyond economics," said Bill Weidner, the president and chief operating officer of the Venetian. "It's really become personal."

"Adelson hates the union," said Tom Snyder, the Culinary Union organizer in charge of the Venetian campaign. "And the reason is he wants total control over every aspect of his employees' lives."

Adelson's relationship with the union began innocuously enough. When he bought the old Sands in 1989, Adelson inherited union contracts. Snyder said Adelson negotiated two contracts with the Culinary Union while operating the Sands and the union never had a problem with him.

The problems began when Adelson decided to close the Sands in June 1996. The Sands was imploded to make way for the Venetian.

The union accused Adelson of violating the Federal Warn Act by failing to give employees 60-day notice of termination. But more importantly from the union's standpoint, Adelson refused to agree to promise Sands workers priority when hiring for the Venetian.

"We wanted him to do what other Strip owners had done," Snyder said. "We wanted our folks to get first shot at jobs in the Venetian."

The alleged Warn Act violations resulted in a union lawsuit. A federal court found the Venetian guilty of violating the 60-day notice rule, but that ruling is being appealed.

Weidner is adamant that the Sands did not violate the Warn Act.

"We paid millions of dollars over and above what was required to be paid by the Warn Act in severance," he said.

But the dispute quickly spread to other issues. As Adelson began planning the Venetian, he refused to give the union automatic access to his employees. Weidner said four different people approached Adelson about negotiating with the union. Adelson told them to wait until he actually had employees, Weidner said. Shortly thereafter, Weidner said, the union started attacking Adelson.

At that point, Weidner said, Adelson decided he was not going to negotiate with the union at all.

"It's up to the individual to make the determination whether they want to be in a union or not," Weidner said. "A relationship (with the union) isn't created until our employees tell us that there is a relationship to be created."

The union wants to organize Venetian workers via a card check/neutrality process. In a card check, the company agrees to remain neutral to the organization process. Employees are simply asked to sign union cards if they want to join. If a majority of employees sign the cards, they are deemed to have voted for union representation. The union then tries to negotiate a labor agreement on their behalf with the company.

The card check/neutrality process has been used by virtually every major resort on the Strip, Snyder said, including the Stratosphere, the Mirage, Treasure Island, the Monte Carlo, Luxor, Excalibur, New York-New York and, more recently, Mandalay Bay and Bellagio.

"All of those used the card check/neutrality process that Sheldon Adelson says he won't use," Snyder said.

But Weidner criticizes the card check/neutrality process as one that is not neutral and heavily favors the unions. Because a card check allows unions to recruit workers in the workplace, it can end up appearing to employees that joining the union is something their company wants them to do, Weidner said.

He also says the card-check process is open to abuse, arguing that unions often intimidate employees into signing cards by visiting them at home and telling lies about the benefits of joining. He produced a list of National Labor Relations Board complaints and lawsuits that allegedly found unions guilty of coercion or making misleading statements in card-check campaigns.

Snyder said Weidner's employee intimidation argument is, "the standard, stereotypical anti-union line that companies who oppose unions always use."

Weidner also produced a letter he said was sent by the Culinary Union to Bellagio employees stating they would not receive free health insurance unless they signed a union card.

The letter states: "Dear Member, ... For continuation of your free health insurance at Bellagio, you need to fill out the enclosed card and put it in the mail today. By achieving union recognition at the Bellagio when it opens we can continue our benefits. The union is only able to have recognition, and thus your benefits if a majority of Bellagio workers sign the enclosed cards."

"This is an organization not to be trusted," Weidner said.

But Snyder said that letter is sent to all Culinary Union members each time a new resort opens. Union members frequently move from one property to another, he said. The point of the letter is to remind union members that they have to fill out a card to ensure that their new property becomes unionized and, thus, that they keep the same health care plan, Snyder said.

The key, said Snyder, is that the letter was sent only to union members. It was not sent to new Bellagio employees who were not already union members. As such, it does not mislead anyone about anything, he said.

Snyder accused Venetian officials of telling employees their own lies.

The Venetian favors an NLRB-supervised election over a card check/neutrality organization process. In an NLRB election, each side campaigns for or against the union for a set period of time. Then, employees vote in a secret election. The NLRB election process is the only fair way to organize a union, Weidner said.

But the union criticizes NLRB elections as a process open to endless appeal and delay. They point to the case of the Santa Fe, where it claims employees voted for union representation five years ago. Santa Fe appeals have held that election up, and Santa Fe workers still do not have a union contract.

"It gives an advantage to the employer," Snyder said. "We know what an anti-union employer can do with that election process."

Weidner calls that sour grapes.

"The NLRB process was designed by the unions," he said.

But the unions are losing NLRB elections "left and right." So now, the favored union tactic has become the card check process, he said.

"That's not true," said Snyder. "On average, unions win more NLRB elections than they lose."

On a more fundamental level, Adelson questions the need for a union. He touts the pay and benefits package the Venetian will offer its employees as the best in the resort industry.

But Snyder says the unions also offer strong benefits and pay, as well as job security, grievance procedures and negotiation rights.

Beyond the dispute over organization, the Venetian-Culinary Union bad blood has been fueled by Adelson's political activity. Adelson has funded anti-Culinary Union candidates in County Commission elections, the failed paycheck protection measure that would have required unions from using dues to support political candidates without employees' permission, and an anti-union group called the Nevada Employees for the Right to Work.

Far from resolution, the dispute is likely to drag on for weeks, months, even years.

"I think we'll call upon the full range of activities we've used historically and probably some new ones," said Snyder. "We'll be there as long as it takes."

Adelson appeals equally determined.

"They're up against a billionaire who is determined to make this building work," Weidner said.

He said the Venetian will simply operate its business and ignore the union protests. If the protests cut the Venetian's business and its ability to make debt payments, Adelson is determined to make it work anyway, Weidner said.

"If there's a debt service issue, Sheldon just turns around and writes a check," Weidner said.

"He's not the first casino boss who reasoned he could outlast us," Snyder said. "That's just a lot of brave talk on their part."

In an interview earlier this year, Snyder said:

"Like Margaret Elardi, he doubts our staying power. Like Bob Maxey, he promises better benefits and says he owns the sidewalks, and like the Lowdens at the Santa Fe, he says he'll abide by an election. Is there a pattern here? Two are out of the casino business, and one is facing bankruptcy proceedings."

Margaret Elardi owned the Frontier hotel-casino, where striking Culinary Union workers picketed for six years until the property was sold to a union-friendly owner.

Bob Maxey ran the MGM Grand when it opened in December 1993. The Culinary Union protested and picketed the nonunion MGM until Maxey resigned two years later. The new chairman of MGM Grand Inc., Terry Lanni, quickly negotiated a union contract.

The Lowden family owns the Santa Fe in northwest Las Vegas and the Pioneer in Laughlin. The Pioneer declared bankruptcy earlier this year after Santa Fe missed payments on bonds that were due in December.

Wouldn't it just be easier for the Venetian to agree to a union-card count?

"It might be," Weidner said. "But it would sacrifice what we see as a fundamental right."

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