Hopes pinned on Park Place meeting

Wednesday, May 22, 2002 | 10:59 a.m.

Culinary Union leaders scheduled pivotal talks today with Park Place Entertainment in the hopes of moving closer to an industrywide collective bargaining agreement and averting a June 1 strike.

Park Place, one of the "Big Four" gaming operators on the Strip, has kept a low profile during five weeks of negotiations, while two of its chief competitors, Mandalay Resort Group and MGM MIRAGE, have engaged the union in a battle of rhetoric.

Those close to the negotiations consider Park Place -- which owns the Las Vegas Hilton, the Flamingo, Caesars Palace, Bally's and Paris -- the key to the union's effort to lock up deals with 35 casinos on the Strip and downtown.

Both union and company officials declined to discuss the significance of today's discussions with the strike deadline just 10 days away.

But Mike Sloan, a Mandalay Resort Group senior vice president, acknowledged this morning that an agreement with Park Place would have a profound impact on negotiations with his company and MGM MIRAGE, which have taken a tougher stance.

"Obviously if they reach an agreement with Park Place, it's something the rest of us are going to have to consider," Sloan said.

"The union is shopping around to find the best deal it can. When the industry doesn't bargain together, it unfortunately winds up bargaining against itself."

Park Place Senior Vice President Robert Stewart said he was "hopeful" that his company will make more progress with the union today.

"We've said all along that we want to be able to reach an agreement that will allow the economic recovery to continue," he said.

Union Secretary-Treasurer D. Taylor said he was optimistic about signing a new contract with Park Place.

"I'm always optimistic in approaching contract negotiations, particularly after having such a wonderful meeting last Thursday at the Thomas & Mack Center with the strike vote," he said. "It was very clear the workers were intent on keeping their health plan and dealing with the workload issue in housekeeping."

Union members voted by an overwhelming margin of 18,654-877 to authorize a June 1 walkout if an agreement can't be reached by May 31, when the current five-year contract expires.

Park Place already has agreed to the union's demand of a 65-cent increase per hour in health-care benefits for each employee the first year of a new contract. The union said it needs the 65 cents to keep its $300 million health and welfare fund afloat and protect free medical coverage for its members.

Harrah's Entertainment, the last of the Big Four gaming companies, also has accepted the 65 cents. It plans to meet with the union Thursday.

But Mandalay Resort Group and MGM MIRAGE have proposed a 57-cent hike, which they contend is comfortably above the 49 cents the fund's administrators believe is needed to maintain the same level of medical benefits.

Mandalay took out a full-page ad touting its offer in this morning's Las Vegas Review-Journal and was to do the same in this afternoon's Sun.

"We are currently proposing the largest single increase in the history of our collective bargaining agreement," the ad says.

The ad points out that Las Vegas workers are the "most highly compensated Culinary Union members in the Southwest."

It says the hourly wages of local food servers, bartenders, pot washers, cooks and housekeepers are well above their counterparts in the Los Angeles, San Diego and Anaheim.

"Mandalay Resort Group is proud to provide highly competitive wages and benefits to all of our employees," the ad says. "We have done so during times of prosperity and will continue to do so during the challenging and extremely uncertain economic times that face all Americans."

The ad, according to those close to the negotiations, was designed to encourage Park Place and Harrah's to take a harder line during their talks with the union this week.

Sloan said the ad was the result of Mandalay's frustration at not being able to return to the bargaining table with the union until Sunday, well after it could become clear whether the union will be able to strike a deal with Park Place or Harrah's.

"We're on the sidelines now until we have our meeting on Sunday," Sloan said. "All we can do is wait and see what happens with the other negotiations."

Union leaders are hoping that an agreement with Park Place or Harrah's will force Mandalay and MGM MIRAGE, which together own 11 casinos with expiring contracts, to up the ante and sign a similar deal.

The union wants a two-year contract, but three of the Big Four, Mandalay, MGM MIRAGE and Harrah's, have asked for a five-year agreement. Park Place has proposed a 32-month contract.

Taylor said offers from all four companies still fall short of the union's demands for the second year of the contract -- an increase of 75 cents an hour that it can allocate toward the health fund, pension fund or employee wages.

Park Place and Harrah's have offered 55 cents, and Mandalay and MGM MIRAGE have come back with 53 cents.

Taylor said the union also is looking for more concessions from the companies to improve working conditions for housekeepers.

Though the strike deadline is fast approaching, Taylor said there was no reason to panic.

"We've got plenty of time to figure out agreements," he said.