Union charters local for LV casino dealers

David Strow

Thursday, June 14, 2001 | 10:51 a.m.

The Transport Workers Union chartered Local 721 Wednesday -- a Las Vegas-based local aimed at representing casino dealers all along the Las Vegas Strip.

The move came three months after the TWU's first organizing drive on the Strip ended, a tough effort that saw dealers at just three of 11 casinos vote in favor of representation.

Since then, TWU International President Sonny Hall noted, many casino executives have assumed the union will simply fade away without ever getting a contract, as other union efforts aimed at Las Vegas dealers have done in the past.

"This charter says, 'Bull,' " Hall said. "We're not going away."

Backing the fledgling 500-member local in those efforts will be the 150,000-member Nevada AFL-CIO. Danny Thompson, executive secretary-treasurer of the state organization, attended Wednesday's chartering -- and said the state's labor unions would back the TWU if its help is needed.

"The TWU is an affiliate of the Nevada AFL-CIO," Thompson said. "We support our affiliates. They haven't asked us to do anything specific, but they all know they have that support."

The union found the path to organizing the Strip quite difficult. From January to March, National Labor Relations Board-supervised elections were held at 11 properties, and the union claimed it had authorization cards signed by a majority of dealers at each of the properties.

But in the end, dealers at eight properties voted down the union, often by margins of 2-to-1 or more. The only three properties to favor the TWU were the Tropicana, Stratosphere and New Frontier, and negotiations for contracts are now under way at those properties.

Many skeptics have doubted the union will even be able to come to an agreement with a casino.

So far, however, officials with each of these properties have shown a willingness to negotiate with the union in good faith, said Timothy Grandfield, the TWU's international director of organizing.

"I will say they're coming to the conclusion that we're here to stay," Grandfield said. "Hopefully it will happen (a contract will be agreed to) in a couple of months. I really believe we can do it."

No difficulties have arisen during negotiations at the Tropicana and the Stratosphere, union officials say. But a controversy recently emerged at the New Frontier.

The union filed a labor complaint with the NLRB earlier this month after the firing of a pro-union dealer. TWU attorney Dennis Kist said the dealer had been handing out union buttons to dealers at the property with a colleague; New Frontier officials suspended her, claiming she had called one employee "chicken (expletive)" for refusing to wear a button. The TWU denies the woman made any such statement.

Following the suspension, the union filed a complaint with the NLRB, claiming labor violations. The woman was subsequently fired, Kist said.

Gregory Kamer, an attorney representing the New Frontier, said he couldn't respond to specifics of the case because of employees' right to privacy. However, he noted that the New Frontier has collective bargaining agreements with six unions, and that the Culinary Union has referred to the property as "the union hotel in Las Vegas."

"It is not our practice to discriminate against employees for union activities, and it is absolutely our goal to negotiate a fair contract with the dealers' union," Kamer said. "The only reason they would terminate an employee would be for good reason. To ascribe anti-union motives is somewhat ludicrous. The mere fact that a button is worn or is handed out ... is an irrelevancy at this point."

The NLRB is currently investigating the incident to decide if it will file a formal complaint against the New Frontier.

Reaching a contract will be critical to the success of the union in future efforts. Grandfield said the TWU has received strong interest from dealers at three Las Vegas properties, but is debating whether it should proceed with an organizing effort before a contract is struck.

"When we get that first contract, that'll be a door opener," Hall said.

It's also possible the TWU will head beyond Las Vegas. Organizers say the union has received expressions of interest from dealers across the world, from the riverboats of the Midwest to the casinos of Australia.

"We'll follow the same format (as in Las Vegas)," Hall said. "If workers want us to (organize), we'll meet with them, no matter where they may be. If dealers come to us, we'll be there."