Local stagehands eye split with international

Thursday, July 18, 2002 | 10:52 a.m.

Local 720 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees earned a reputation during the bitter 1984 casino industry strike as one of the strongest and most aggressive unions in Las Vegas.

Its tough image stemmed from the leadership of Dennis Kist, a lawyer and former Stardust stagehand who served as its president from 1981 to 1990 and again from 1993 to 1995.

Kist and his fellow stagehands were among the first to walk off their jobs in 1984, shutting down shows at midnight in the middle of their performances all along the Strip.

IATSE, then a tightly knit group of 800 Strip employees, worked hand-in-hand with the Culinary Union, which led the 67-day strike, and frequently became embroiled in confrontations with police on the picket line.

Since Kist stepped down as president of Local 720 in 1995 to devote more time to his law practice, IATSE has suffered through a leadership vacuum that has left its members fighting more among themselves than management.

Today Local 720's biggest battle is with its 90,000-member international -- which pulled its charter in April but later decided to put it under the control of an international trustee -- just as the union was about to enter into contract negotiations with a dozen Strip casinos.

The New York-based international has accused Local 720 of engaging in financial misconduct, allowing the democratic process within the union to break down and failing to organize the majority of stagehands and wardrobe workers on the Strip.

Local IATSE members, who contend they no longer have a say in their own contract negotiations, have brought back Kist to help them drive the international from Las Vegas. They believe the New York leaders only are interested in the local's $4.5 million in assets.

Gregory Kamer, a longtime labor lawyer who has tangled with Kist at the bargaining table in the past, said the battle between Local 720 and the international makes no sense to him.

"For the international to come in and just take over is very unusual," he said. "It's easy to see the good guys from the bad guys here without a scorecard. With Dennis Kist leading the local faction, you know that's probably the right side."

Kist, 47, said Local 720 members are donating money they normally would pay in union dues to a legal fund to carry out the fight.

"I think the international is arrogant and greedy," Kist said. "They've forgotten who they work for -- the members who pay the dues."

International officers declined to comment on the troubles at Local 720.

But in an April 12 letter announcing that the union's charter was being revoked, international President Thomas Short said:

"It is not possible to tell what the future will bring, but it is certain that many years will be required to correct all that was wrong with former Local 720 and to fully organize IATSE's rightful jurisdiction in Las Vegas."

After deciding to restore the charter and appoint a trustee to run Local 720, Short told IATSE members in a May 13 letter that the international planned to have a presence in Las Vegas for a long time.

"In spite of the new status as a trusteed local, rest assured that autonomy will not be returned until each and every defect uncovered at the hearing has been rectified 100 percent," he said.

Kist acknowledged that Local 720, which now has 1,256 members, has been marked by internal upheaval since his absence at the helm. But he said the international has trumped up the charges of financial misconduct and organizing failures against the union.

He also said the international is wrong in alleging that the democratic process has broken down.

"We've had a change of officers fairly regularly, but that's exactly what the democratic process is designed to do," he said.

On the contrary, Kist said, the international has thwarted democracy within the union.

It has taken away the "essence" of the union by negotiating new contracts without any participation from the local members, he said.

Kist said one five-year agreement was reached with about two dozen stagehands at the Sahara a month ago, but the members still haven't seen a copy of the new contract. Talks with the other casinos are ongoing.

Mike McDonald, the head carpenter at the Sahara showroom and a longtime IATSE member, said his colleagues recently walked out of a meeting where international negotiators were explaining the contract because the entire local IATSE membership was not allowed to vote on the agreement.

Traditionally, all of Local 720's members vote to ratify contracts at each hotel because many of the members work at more than one property, he said.

"We did not approve the contract," McDonald said. "But the international still is claiming that it's valid."

Sahara spokeswoman Jackie Brett said the hotel also believes it has a valid agreement and has heard no complaints from local stagehands. International officers declined to comment on the negotiations.

McDonald said the international told union members that the agreement is comparable to the one signed at the Sahara last month by the Culinary Union, which guarantees free medical coverage under the Culinary's health fund,

But the members, he explained, also were told that some of the hourly increases in benefits are being diverted to an international pension fund, which is something they adamantly oppose.

"This is just insane," McDonald said. "I joined the union so I wouldn't have to be treated like this."

Art Legare, who was Local 720's secretary-treasurer when the international moved in this spring, is supporting the effort to drive it from Las Vegas.

"People are coming in and negotiating contracts who don't even understand Las Vegas, and who will never even have to work here," Legare said. "We're looking to see the international pack up and go home."

Legare was among the local officers who actually invited the international to Las Vegas to provide a steadying hand during the important contract talks.

But Legare now says he never expected the union to take away Local 720's ability to control its own destiny.

"I feel that I was deceived," he said. "It was supposed to be a benevolent thing to bring back stability to the local. But it turned into an adversarial relationship."

Kevin Efroymson, another labor lawyer who has gone up against Kist over the years, said he finds irony in the push to take back Local 720.

"The actions of the international have unified the membership unlike they've been unified since Dennis was president," Efroymson said. "They're unified against the international."