Resort operators unite in contract struggle

Friday, May 10, 2002 | 11:12 a.m.

In an effort to speed up negotiations to beat a June 1 strike deadline, two major casino companies are joining forces to present a united response to the Culinary Union's contract proposal.

Mandalay Resort Group and MGM MIRAGE -- which own 11 of the 35 casinos negotiating a new contract with the union -- have agreed to work together on their counteroffer, company officials said.

And discussions are said to be under way to try to persuade other major companies, such as Park Place Entertainment, Harrah's Entertainment and the Boyd Group, to join the new coalition.

For the past month the union has been negotiating separately with each casino company in Las Vegas.

Mike Sloan, a senior vice president for Mandalay Resort Group, said Thursday the decision to unite with MGM MIRAGE was done at the urging of International Culinary Union President John Wilhelm, who has complained about the slow progress of the negotiations.

"He'd liked to have us pick up the pace," Sloan said. "We have entered into an agreement with MGM MIRAGE to try and formulate a group economic response, and we are encouraging other employers to join us.

"We are working round-the-clock trying to develop a counter-proposal that is realistic."

Wilhelm said a second round of talks with Mandalay Resort Group on Wednesday did not make headway on any of the significant issues in dispute. MGM MIRAGE is set to meet for the second time with the union on Monday.

So far both sides are far apart on the length of the contract and the union's insistence that its members continue to receive free health insurance for themselves and their families.

Sloan said the union is asking for the largest hike ever in employer contributions to the health fund at a time when revenues are down. The state Gaming Control Board reported Thursday that gaming revenues in the state declined 5.7 percent in March from the previous year.

"How does (Wilhelm) expect people to be paying more when they're earning less and the numbers are down?" Sloan asked.

The 50,000-member local Culinary Union has scheduled a membership meeting at the Thomas & Mack Center Thursday to authorize a strike if a new collective bargaining agreement can't be reached by June 1, when the current contract expires.

Wilhelm told the Sun Thursday that the talks would move faster in the remaining three weeks if one of the major gaming companies showed some leadership and "stepped up to the plate in a positive way."

In three previous negotiations in 1989, 1994 and 1997, he said, former Mirage Resorts Chairman Steve Wynn was the first to sign a contract with the union, and shortly afterward the rest of the industry followed suit.

"It was always Steve Wynn, but Steve is not an employer this time," Wilhelm said. "So one of the other major companies is going to have to accept responsibility on behalf of their colleagues and step up to the plate."

Wilhelm Thursday also defended the union's efforts to attract national attention to the heated contract negotiations.

In the last two weeks, to the chagrin of the casino industry, the union has spread the word of the June 1 contract deadline to gaming investors on Wall Street and casino industry vendors and travel agents across the country.

It also has obtained the full support of the AFL-CIO in Washington, the headquarters for the American labor movement, should the first walkout on the Strip since 1984 take place on June 1.

"We're not engaging in theatrics," Wilhelm said. "Our goal is to get a settlement. We've been forced into a deadline because the employer trustees of the health and welfare fund insisted and demanded that benefits be cut if there's no new money on June 1.

"For that reason alone, we've been forced to establish a strike deadline. And once you establish a strike deadline, you have a responsibility to let the world know about it."

Wilhelm, who chairs the Culinary Union's $300 million health fund, said he warned casino executives that they would be placing the two sides in an "adversarial situation" by pressuring the union into the June 1 deadline.

"We don't like having this deadline," Wilhelm said. "It runs the risk of further damaging the economy here, and that's not in our best interest. But that's the hand we've been dealt."

But Sloan denied that management steered the union toward the deadline.

"Nothing happens on that fund without a majority of union and management trustees," he said. "John acknowledged that all of the union trustees supported the notion that changes have to be made so we don't spend more money than we take in."

Sloan said the union is hurting itself by taking its case national.

"Discouraging people from coming here at a time when the numbers are off dramatically is only going to trigger fewer working hours for Culinary employees," he said. "And every hour less they work creates a bigger problem for the health fund."