Taylor takes helm of union

Thursday, April 4, 2002 | 9:24 a.m.

The Culinary Union this week chose a new leadership team as it heads into potentially difficult contract negotiations with the gaming industry.

Staff Director D. Taylor was unanimously selected to serve in the top spot as secretary-treasurer, replacing Jim Arnold, who opted against seeking a sixth three-year term because of his health.

Geoconda Arguello-Kline, a former housekeeper, was tabbed to succeed retiring Hattie Canty as president, the union's No. 2 position.

The new officers take over June 1, after contract negotiations with more than 30 Las Vegas hotels are expected to conclude. The talks are scheduled to get under way within the next two weeks.

"I feel very honored," Taylor told the Sun Wednesday. "But at the same time, I know there are many challenges ahead for us."

Taylor, a confidant of John Wilhelm, the union's Washington-based international president, has played an integral role on the front lines for the union since 1984. He was arrested more than 30 times during the violent 1984 strike on the Strip.

Arnold, who has been struggling with emphysema, said he has accepted a position as Wilhelm's Las Vegas administrative assistant.

"It has been a good 15 years, the best of my life," he said. "I'm proud of every second I've spent down here."

Arnold and Wilhelm this week prepared a letter for the union's 50,000 members highlighting Arnold's accomplishments, saying the union has been "rebuilt" into a potent political force and now "stands strong and proud, a beacon for the American labor movement."