Dealers approve union contract

Monday, March 18, 2002 | 10:57 a.m.

The dealers of the New Frontier have voted to accept a three-year contact negotiated by the Transport Workers Union, making the north Las Vegas Strip property the first locally to have unionized dealers.

Timothy Grandfield, director of international organizing for the TWU, said the vote was 3-1 in favor of the union among the 47 dealers who returned ballots. Only 40 percent of the ballots sent out were returned.

The agreement establishes a top wage of $6.50 per hour in its first year, rising to $7 in the second, but wages will be frozen at current levels -- now around minimum wage -- for those two years, Grandfield said.

"We had to take into consideration the economics of the industry and this property," Grandfield said. "Unfortunately at this juncture, the New Frontier isn't doing as well as it should."

The dealer tip pool, or "tokes," will be controlled and dispersed by an elected committee of dealers, Grandfield said.

Dealers have the right to a grievance procedure for most disciplinary actions, but the New Frontier will retain the right to fire dealers immediately for any "issues of gaming integrity." A dealer fired for gaming issues may appeal to a board made of two managers and one union official, then to the director of human resources, but dealers cannot appeal beyond this level.

The contract also allows the New Frontier to retain the right to lay off or assign shifts by each dealer's qualifications, but establishes seniority as a tie-breaker in such decisions when qualifications are equal.