Threat of strike looms on Strip

Monday, May 6, 2002 | 11:08 a.m.

The Culinary Union and casino industry head into a new round of contract negotiations this week in a tension-filled environment created by talk of a possible strike at the end of the month.

Both sides continue to talk while preparing for what could be the first walkout on the Strip since 1984.

Union leaders are organizing a May 16 membership vote to authorize a strike if a new collective bargaining agreement can't be reached by June 1, when the current five-year contract expires.

Strip resorts are discussing strike contingencies, such as potential replacements for employees who might walk out and security plans to deal with work stoppages.

"This is like a war game," said Mike Sloan, general counsel for Mandalay Resort Group, which meets with the union Wednesday. "We are doing things that we haven't had to do for years because of the new tactics the union is using."

But Sloan added: "I believe we will settle this without a strike as long as both sides are reasonable and willing to compromise."

Reasonableness so far has been drowned out by inflammatory rhetoric on both sides, and by some media accounts that some close to the negotiations say have mischaracterized the union's strike preparations.

A newspaper report on Friday suggested the union had mailed warnings of a possible strike to the nation's 50,000 travel agents.

That brought immediate condemnations from Sloan and other casino executives, who accused the union of trying to hurt business on the Strip before both sides have had a chance to iron out an agreement.

One casino executive, MGM MIRAGE Vice President Alan Feldman, likened the union to terrorists, a charge union leaders called outrageous.

The union did send out a flier informing the travel agents about the status of the negotiations with 36 casinos. The mailer did not mention a possible strike.

But it reported that talks so far have been tough.

"Major issues include maintaining the current level of medical benefits and stopping workload increases and other abuses in the housekeeping department," the flier said. "In the aftermath of Sept. 11, both issues became both more pressing and more difficult to resolve."

Culinary Political Director Glen Arnodo said the union went out of its way to tone down the flier and avoid talking about a walkout.

"In no way are we discouraging people from coming here," Arnodo said.

But D. Taylor, the union's newly elected secretary-treasurer, said the traveling public needs to be aware of a possible strike.

Union leaders remain firm in their insistence on free family health insurance for their 53,000 members during this new round of negotiations. The resorts have indicated they expect employees to start pitching in toward the cost of health coverage.

Both sides also are far apart on the length of the new contract. The Culinary Union wants a two-year agreement to give the local economy a chance to stabilize. But the resorts want to lock up employees for a four- or five-year deal.

"I think it's in everybody's interest to get this concluded on time," Taylor said. "But I do not think that the workers in our community, after the sacrifices of Sept. 11, should make further sacrifices when company stocks are at an all-time high."

Feldman said it appears to him that union leaders are thinking more about their own political needs than the needs of their members.

"We are still optimistic that we are going to be able to work this out," he said. "But as each day passes that optimism is going to be chipped away to the very real possibility of a work stoppage."

Feldman, whose company meets with the union next Monday, said he was confident MGM MIRAGE would "make it through" any walkout.

Taylor, meanwhile, said this week's talks will give union leaders a feel for how to approach the strike authorization vote.

"Certainly they will set the tone and direction of where we need to go up to and after May 16," he said.

Aside from Mandalay Resort Group on Wednesday, the union has discussions planned with Park Place Entertainment on Thursday and Harrah's Entertainment on Saturday, Taylor said.

It meets Tuesday with several downtown casinos, including Fitzgerald's, Union Plaza, Las Vegas Club, El Cortez and Binion's Horseshoe.