‘Union busters’ effective

David Strow

Monday, March 12, 2001 | 11:43 a.m.

When the Transport Workers Union began gathering authorization cards from dealers along the Strip, the union appeared to have a huge majority of dealers backing it at the 12 properties where it filed for elections. But at most properties, that lead evaporated.

When asked why, the union and its allies point to a small army of labor consultants brought in by the casinos -- a group known in union parlance as "union busters."

All properties facing a TWU election held some mandatory dealer meetings to discuss the issue, some as often as several times a week. Companies aren't permitted by labor law to directly urge employees to vote against the union, though they can present information that can help sway votes.

Marty Levitt was a so-called union buster before aligning with organized labor. One tactic he says is commonly used is to make the vote a referendum on confidence on management.

"You don't pay these consultants millions of dollars if they're not able to turn things on a dime," Levitt said. "At some point, they make it so personal. The more time they're given to saturate people ... they overwhelm them."

Though tactics varied by property, the consultants used two primary arguments to try to sway dealers -- one, that the TWU didn't understand dealer issues; and two, that management would be responsive to solving dealer concerns about pay and working conditions.

These arguments proved persuasive among many dealers.

"We not only voted against this union, we voted in favor of (New York-New York president) Felix Rappaport and the company we work for," said New York-New York dealer Karel Smith. "We decided to put our trust in management and work on our issues."

But both pro- and anti-union dealers say fear crept its way into the campaign. Those on the pro-union side claim some casinos hinted at establishing no-tipping policies or mass layoffs of dealers if the union won.

"They were promising and threatening at the same time," said Jack Lipsman, vice president of the National Federation of Gaming Employees.

Lipsman believes the union didn't do enough to combat these tactics.

"If they scream at you, you have to scream back," Lipsman said.

But dealers against the union claim union organizers were sometimes too aggressive. They claim many dealers were pressured or misled into singing authorization cards. Dealers that openly opposed the union were ostracized by their pro-union colleagues, and some were told they would be fired if the union won, said Kristin Williams, dealer at the MGM Grand.

One expert believes peer pressure probably played a big role in how many cards were signed -- and explains why so many dealers switched in the privacy of a voting booth.

"If you have fellow employees asking you to sign a card, that can be intimidating too," said Shannon Bybee, executive director of UNLV's International Gaming Institute. "People didn't want to say no, so they signed a card. They didn't know how strong they were, how much support they had."