Culinary wins Rio legal battle

David Strow

Monday, Jan. 8, 2001 | 11:06 a.m.

The Culinary Union won a sudden victory in its bitter organizing battle at the Rio on Friday when a state judge ordered the hotel-casino's parent company to conduct a card count at the off-Strip property.

The Culinary wants to represent about 2,400 employees at the Rio, a property owned by Harrah's Entertainment Inc. Though the Culinary had been recognized for some time at Harrah's Las Vegas on the Strip, Rio officials had refused to accept the results of a card count as a method of determining if the Culinary should be recognized there, and had been attempting to convince employees that representation was unnecesssary.

Under Judge James Mahan's order, the Rio has until Jan. 18 to conduct a card count.

"...(T)here is a substantial risk that support for (the union) among employees at the Rio may erode as time goes on and a card check is not held, thereby suggesting to Rio employees that they may face serious conflict with their employer over their desire to unionize," Mahan wrote in the order.

Harrah's spokesman Gary Thompson said the company does not plan to appeal the decision and will abide by the results of a card count.

In a card count, employees sign cards stating that they want a certain union to represent them in collective bargaining. A company then recognizes the union if a majority of workers in a certain unit have signed these authorization cards.

Employees do not receive anonymity under card counts, as they do under National Labor Relations Board-supervised elections. The card count is accepted by most Strip operators as the method of determining Culinary representation, though the Venetian and Aladdin have touched off feuds with the union by refusing to submit to such methods.

"If the union has obtained authorization cards from a majority of qualified employees, the union will become their collective bargaining representative," Harrah's said in a statement.

D. Taylor, staff director for the Culinary, expressed cautious optimism at the court's decision -- and hoped that the decision would mean the end of the Culinary's legal fights with Harrah's. Until the Rio battle, the Culinary and Harrah's enjoyed a cordial relationship.

"I think it's a significant step, but until a card check occurs, we do not have recognition," Taylor said. "It's a little premature to say (what the terms of a Rio contract) would be until a card check occurs."

Assuming a third party verifies that a majority of workers have signed the authorization cards, Harrah's and the Culinary would then enter collective bargaining negotiations -- though there's no guarantee the two sides would actually be able to agree on a contract.

The union plans to push for a contract "in line with a Strip contract," Taylor said.

The judge's order came in response to a Dec. 11 lawsuit by the Culinary, which asked the court to force the Rio to submit to a card check.

In its lawsuit, the union argued that its collective bargaining agreement at Harrah's Las Vegas states that employees working at properties owned by Harrah's in the Las Vegas area must be considered part of the Harrah's Las Vegas bargaining unit, subject to a card check. The union sought to compel Harrah's to release the names, addresses and job classifications of all Rio employees "not hired through the union's referral service" -- information that will be used to verify the results of a Rio card check.

Harrah's had refused this request. In a June 5 letter, a company attorney said the Rio wasn't obligated to provide names to the union, since the union's contract was with Harrah's Las Vegas Inc., the Harrah's Entertainment subsidiary that operates Harrah's Las Vegas. The Rio is owned by a separate subsidiary.

The company had also argued that language calling for expedited card checks had been deleted from Harrah's contract with the union.

The two sides had been engaged in a nasty fight over the Culinary's card check drive since early last year. In June, the NLRB filed a complaint against the Rio, accusing 44 Rio managers of more than 140 labor violations. The NLRB complaint alleged the actions were in retaliation against leaders of the organizing campaign -- charges the Rio denied.

A hearing had been set for October, but had been pushed back until March at the request of both sides. Now, Taylor said he's hopeful the issue can be resolved before it goes to a hearing.

"We're confident if we can resolve the question of recognition, we can figure out the outstanding unfair labor practices, and hopefully resolve those to the satisfaction of all parties," Taylor said.