Columnist Jeff German: Culinary, gaming relations strained

Saturday, Dec. 16, 2000 | 12:36 p.m.

Jeff German is the Sun's senior investigative reporter. He can be reached at (702) 259-4067 or by e-mail at german@lasvegassun.com.

There's a small crack in the much-ballyhooed cooperative relationship between the casino industry and its most influential labor group, the Culinary Union.

And it threatens to widen at a time when the industry needs every ally it can get in its desperate fight against the NCAA's campaign to ban college sports betting.

In recent months, the Culinary Union, which represents some 45,000 hotel workers in Las Vegas, has found itself fighting the industry on several fronts. The union is locked in serious organizing drives at three megaresorts -- the Rio, Venetian and Aladdin.

No. 1 on the culinary's priority list is not the Venetian, as one might expect, but rather signing up some 2,500 Rio workers. The Rio is owned by Harrah's Entertainment Inc., which has a union contract covering its other resorts. Harrah's, however, has irked the union by refusing to recognize the Rio card check campaign.

Last week the culinary took Harrah's to court, claiming the company has an obligation under its contract to honor the card count. Presenting a simple majority of union cards from Rio employees is the easiest way to bring the hotel-casino into the union's family. But for some reason, Harrah's wants to make the union work extra hard to achieve that goal.

Union leaders are astounded that Harrah's has drawn a line in the sand with them at the Rio, as the union's international president, John Wilhelm, continues to rise in prominence on the national labor scene in Washington.

The Eastern press already has dubbed Wilhelm, who ushered in the era of labor-management cooperation on the Strip 15 years ago, as the heir apparent to AFL-CIO President John Sweeney.

Though Sweeney is expected to be elected to another four-year term next October, the speculation that Wilhelm might one day succeed him gives the Culinary Union boss even more clout on the national labor scene.

Some casino insiders are wondering why Harrah's would want to mess with Wilhelm now.

Wilhelm is hopeful of resolving the Harrah's conflict.

"I think all of us in the gaming industry have done best when we've worked together, and I hope we can continue that," Wilhelm says.

"We have a good relationship with most of the major companies. Certainly, there are companies that have a different point of view. I think that minority point of view is shortsighted."

It's safe to say Wilhelm would include Station Casinos, which has never been union friendly, in that category, as well.

Culinary leaders are upset that Station has fired some 2,000 employees during the holiday season at the two local casinos it just took over -- the Fiesta and Santa Fe. They see the move as a black eye on the city's image.

Union officials also can't believe that the American Gaming Association, the industry's Washington lobby, recently voted to seek the assistance of Venetian owner Sheldon Adelson in the sports betting ban battle with the NCAA.

Adelson, who has turned the Venetian into a successful Strip property without the union's help, has yet to say whether he's ready to join the fray in Washington.

But even more stunning to union leaders is the fact that the AGA has gone to the maverick Adelson before seeking the union's help in the NCAA fight.

Maybe recruiting the union is part of the comprehensive battle plan that Nevada Sen. Harry Reid recently urged the industry to adopt.

Wilhelm, a former member of the National Gambling Impact Study Commission, certainly has proven he's capable of working very closely with the industry in the past. Word is he's willing to contribute to the industry's cause if called upon.

But before that can happen, the industry may have to take steps to repair the widening crack in its relationship with the Culinary Union on the local front.