LV company wins labor dispute, posts higher profit

Thursday, Feb. 15, 2001 | 11:01 a.m.

The National Labor Relations Board has denied an appeal by the Culinary Union alleging it had a contract at the Santa Fe hotel-casino.

The Culinary claimed in July it had accepted a contract offer at the Santa Fe after years of unsuccessful negotiations. Santa Fe Gaming Corp. of Las Vegas, the owner of the property at the time, denied any contract existed between the parties.

The regional office of the NLRB denied a Culinary request to issue a complaint against the company in November, prompting the union's appeal to the national board in Washington, D.C.

Mike Chavez, agent-in-charge of the Las Vegas office, said the NLRB ruled against the union because "there was insufficient evidence there was a meeting of the minds; that is, that there was full agreement on a contract package."

Santa Fe Gaming, controlled by the Lowden family of Las Vegas, sold the Santa Fe to Station Casinos Inc. in October for $205 million.

Separately, Santa Fe Gaming reported a big jump in net income for the fourth quarter, driven primarily by this sale.

The company posted net income of $89.3 million, or $14.41 per share, for the quarter ending Dec. 31. In the year-ago quarter the company earned $8.6 million, or $1.39 per share.

However, these results included a $137 million gain from the sale of the Santa Fe, compared to one-time gains of $14.2 million in the year-ago quarter. On an operating basis, Santa Fe Gaming lost $471,000, compared to operating income of $1.4 million in the year-ago period.

Both cash flow and revenues also showed significant declines. Revenues fell 67 percent to $10.7 million, while cash flow declined 84 percent to $1.3 million. Both declines were caused by the sale of the Santa Fe; the company's sole operating asset is now the Pioneer Hotel and Gambling Hall in Laughlin.