Vegas not on list of top union cities

Grace Leong

Monday, Dec. 3, 2001 | 10:35 a.m.

Las Vegas may have one of the fastest-growing labor movements in the nation, but it wasn't among 14 cities recognized by the AFL-CIO on Sunday as a top "union city" -- defined as cities in which working families have the strongest voices in the workplace, community and government.

At the AFL-CIO's 24th biennial conference in Las Vegas, the labor councils in 14 cities were recognized by the AFL-CIO, a federation of 65 unions, for agreeing to implement seven strategies the AFL-CIO set for becoming a union city.

The award, which the AFL-CIO said is the first of its kind, was given to AFL-CIO councils in Atlanta, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Houston, Los Angeles, Madison, Wisc., Milwaukee, Quad Cities, Iowa, San Diego, San Jose, Seattle, Syracuse, N.Y., New York City and Washington D.C.

The AFL-CIO said it launched the union cities initiative in 1997 in an effort to revitalize local unions and the labor movement.

Judd Ron, a director for the western region of the AFL-CIO, said Las Vegas wasn't included because it didn't implement the union city strategies.

The strategies include supporting affiliate unions' organizing efforts, mobilizing 1 percent of members to support other workers' struggles and taking grassroots political action.

Other strategies include building union alliances with faith-based, civil rights and women's organizations, demanding diversity on labor councils and state federations, training a new generation of leaders and raising the public voice of working families.

"We're still working with affiliate unions in Las Vegas to strengthen the work of the labor councils, including educating working families and getting unions to voice the concerns of working families on a state-level," Ron said.

But Glen Arnodo, a political director of the main hotel-casino local union, Culinary Local 226 in Las Vegas, was unfazed.

"This isn't a slight on Las Vegas. Las Vegas can't be the center of the world for the labor movement forever. We've received tremendous assistance and resources from the AFL-CIO and we feel fine about other cities getting recognition for a change."

But Las Vegas is still seen as an up and coming union city because union members are making efforts to ensure workers' voices are heard in the political arena, said Lane Windham, an AFL-CIO spokeswoman.

At election time, more than 90 percent of union members were contacted about which candidates support working family issues and at least 20 union members hold elected offices in Nevada, she said.

"There's also been a lot of union organizing here. Since 1999, 8,000 hospitality workers have formed unions at four major hotels, including the Rio," she said. "More than 1,500 industrial laundry workers have become (union) members, and roofers at Willis Roofing, ready mix concrete workers and bricklayers have come together in unions."