Dealers’ union rejected at Monte Carlo

Monday, Jan. 15, 2001 | 11:25 a.m.

Monte Carlo dealers voted overwhelmingly against unionization in an election at the Las Vegas hotel-casino Saturday, but union organizers vow they'll press ahead with efforts to organize at 11 other Las Vegas properties.

Two hundred ninety-four dealers voted against representation by the Transport Workers Union, with 98 voting in favor. The union was seeking to represent 409 dealers at the Monte Carlo.

"We feel great about it," said Jim Thomason, vice president and general manager of the Monte Carlo this morning. "We think it's a vote of confidence from our dealers."

But Jeff Osborne, organizer for the union, said suspicions should be raised by the fact that dealers voted so heavily against unionization after more than 80 percent had signed cards calling for an election. Osborne said the union is considering filing formal complaints with the National Labor Relations Board.

At contention is a letter circulated to Monte Carlo dealers while the polls were still open Saturday. The anonymous letter claimed that pits would be shut down and dealers laid off en masse if the union prevailed.

Thomason denied the Monte Carlo had anything to do with the letter, though he said the property had urged dealers to vote against unionization in meetings.

"There were an awful lot of (items) surfacing around the property, and we took those things down," Thomason said. "(The complaints) have more to do with the fact that the union did not win."

The vote is just the first in a series of elections planned in the coming days. Votes are scheduled for next Saturday at the Las Vegas Hilton and the Luxor, with a third vote set for Jan. 22 at the Tropicana. Elections will be held over the next month at the Stratosphere, the MGM Grand, the Riviera, Bally's Las Vegas and the New York-New York, while the union has petitioned for elections at the Treasure Island, Excalibur and New Frontier.