Thursday, June 27, 2002 | 11:14 a.m.
A high-ranking Culinary Union official this morning predicted a strike of 2,400 downtown union members after a deadline for a new settlement passes on midnight Sunday.
The union reached a tentative agreement with the Sahara hotel Wednesday, leaving only one Strip property without a contract. While union officials are fairly certain they will settle with the Stardust, the last Strip property to agree to a contract, they said prospects do not look good for six downtown casinos that have taken a hard line.
"If I had to make a bet, based on what I know today, I would say there will be a strike," International President John Wilhelm said this morning.
Local 226 Secretary-Treasurer D. Taylor said this morning the chances were 50-50 of a strike at the six properties -- Binion's Horseshoe, Four Queens, Las Vegas Club, Union Plaza, El Cortez and Western. Those hotels have joined forces in the negotiations and are represented by attorney Greg Kamer.
The casinos "have a variety of issues that are deal breakers," Taylor said, adding they reiterated the demands for concessions Wednesday.
"We are nowhere near a settlement downtown," Wilhelm said. "It's a challenge."
Kamer did not return phone calls this morning.
The deadline will not be extended, Wilhelm said. When the negotiating committee voted in May to change the last day to strike a deal to June 30, it voted to allow no other extensions, he said.
The six hotels represent only 5 percent of the union's 45,000 membership in Las Vegas, Taylor said, but they are symbolic of a much greater struggle.
"A lot of these workers basically founded our union," he said. "They fought for and got this contract that the downtown casinos want to gut.
"It's a very emotional issue for us and for them."
Strike preparations continue, Taylor said. A strike survival guide has been published to help members who walk out and picket signs are being made.
Taylor predicted that if there is a strike, members from Strip properties would show up in force to picket on behalf of their downtown colleagues.
"People view this as a strike about the soul of the union," he said. "I have no doubt of a massive turnout to support this."
On Wednesday another 600 union members were brought under the umbrella of the richest contract the union has negotiated in Las Vegas, when the Sahara reached a settlement that was signed this morning.
The Sahara agreed to increases in wages and contributions to the union's health and welfare fund of $3.23 an hour over the next five years, identical to what has been signed by other Strip properties, Wilhelm and Taylor said.
Current Culinary Union wages and benefits average $14.17 per hour in Las Vegas.
That leaves only one Strip property -- the Stardust -- without an agreement.
The union chiefs said they expected a settlement soon with the Stardust. That agreement has been held up, because the union also must come to terms with sister casinos Main Street Station and the Fremont Hotel, downtown properties also owned by Boyd Gaming. Talks are scheduled for Friday.
Negotiations also are continuing with Fitzgeralds, a downtown casino that broke last week from the group represented by Kamer.
"We made a lot of progress Tuesday" in those talks, Wilhelm said. Executives for the casino and union negotiators had agreed on everything except the amount to be paid in wages and benefits, Wilhelm said.
Wilhelm praised Sahara owner Bill Bennett for that resort's deal, noting it had some of the same financial problems that the downtown casinos have said prevent them from signing the Strip contract.
"The hotel was in deep trouble before Mr. Bennett bought it. Mr. Bennett invested his own money in it and turned it around," he said. "We are grateful to Mr. Bennett for that and the contract."
The Sahara agreement still needs to be ratified, a vote that will come after the contract deadline, Taylor said. He was confident the contract would win easy approval from the membership, noting that union members at 18 megaresorts on the Strip overwhelmingly ratified that contract.
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