Unions reach agreement with biggest Las Vegas Strip hotels

Discussion: 5 comments so far…

1. By SPFPAUNIONYES

   5/27/08 at 7:39 p.m.

   Suggest removal

   J. Terrence Lanni, President May 27, 2008
   Chairman & CEO
   MGM Mirage
   3950 Las Vegas Boulevard South
   Las Vegas, NV 89119
   Fax 702 – 632 - 7179

   Re: MGM Mirage / SPFPA Recognition Agreement

   Dear Mr. Lanni

   Please be advised that the International Union, Security, Police and Fire Professionals of America (SPFPA) is presently seeking to organize all MGM Mirage casino security professionals working at the following MGM Mirage Las Vegas casinos, the MGM Grand, Excalibur, New York New York, Monte Carlo, Bellagio, Mirage, Treasure Island, and Circus Circus. This is in addition to our pending elections at both Mandalay Bay and Luxor Casino.

   In accordance with the enclosed memorandum of agreement between Mandalay Corp dba Mandalay Bay Resorts and Casino and Local Joint Executive Board of Las Vegas for and on behalf of Culinary Workers Union Local No. 226 and Bartenders Union, Local No. 165 which is an addendum to their collective bargaining agreement and reflected in all other existing MGM Mirage subsidiary casino collective bargaining agreements, we hereby request that you extend the same rights to the Union (SPFPA) and your casino security professionals seeking to organize with the SPFPA as you did with Culinary Union.

   Enclosed is a letter of understanding between the parties. Please review and sign. If you should have any questions please do not hesitate to call me at 646-567-6454.

   In conclusion I would also like it noted for the record that several Mirage casino security officers are actively and openly soliciting their co-officers to join our union. Namely Carol Shrum and Kim Lubyewski. We ask that your management staff do not take any retaliatory action against these individuals for exercising their Section 7 rights.

   Respectfully
   
   Steve Maritas
   SPFPA Organizing Director

2. By SPFPAUNIONYES

   5/27/08 at 7:39 p.m.

   Suggest removal

   Letter of Understanding
   Between MGM MIRAGE and the International Union, Security Police and Fire Professionals of America (SPFPA)

   1. The parties hereby establish the following procedure for the purpose of ensuring an orderly environment for the exercise by the Employer’s employees (casino security professionals) of their rights under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act and to avoid picketing and/or other economic action directed at the Employer at any of their casinos or operations (at which the Union does not have representation rights).

   2. The Employer will recognize that national labor law guarantees employees (casino security professionals) the right to form or select any labor organization to act as the employees’ exclusive bargaining representative for the purposes of collective bargaining with the Employer, or to refrain from such activity.

   3. The Employer will take a positive approach to unionization of employees employed as casino security professionals as per the enclosed memorandum of agreement.

   4. The Employer will advise such employees (casino security professionals) that you welcome their selection of a collective bargaining agent. As you did with the Culinary Union.

   5. The Employer will not do any action nor make any statements that will directly or indirectly state or imply any opposition by the Employer to the selection by such employees of a collective bargaining agent, or preference for or opposition to any particular union as a bargaining agent.

3. By SPFPAUNIONYES

   5/27/08 at 7:40 p.m.

   Suggest removal

   6. The Union and its representatives will not coerce or threaten any employee of the Employer in an effort to obtain authorization cards.

   7. The Employer shall not interfere with access on its premises to such employees by the Union to the extent such access is permitted by the Employer’s lawful solicitation rules.

   8. Within ten (10) days following receipt of this written notice of our intent to organize your casino security professionals at the above casinos, the Employer will furnish the Union (SPFPA) with a complete list of such employees, including both full and part-time employees (casino security professionals). Within two weeks thereafter, the Employer will furnish a second list of such employees to the Union, including the addresses of all employees (casino security professionals) unless an employee objects in writing to the disclosures of his or her name. Thereafter, the Employer will provide updated lists monthly.

   9. The Union may request recognition as the exclusive bargaining agent for employees in the traditional bargaining unit represented by the Union at MGM Grand Detroit. A disinterested party, neutral party mutually satisfactory to the Employer and the Union will be selected to conduct a review of employees authorization cards and membership information submitted by the Union in support of its claim to represent the majority of the employees (casino security professionals) within the unit has joined the Union or designated it as their exclusive collective bargaining representative, the Employer will recognize the Union as such representative of the employees and will extend to such employees the language negotiated in the collective bargaining agreement between Mandalay Corp dba Mandalay Bay Resorts and Casino and Local Joint Executive Board of Las Vegas for and on behalf of Culinary Workers Union Local No. 226 and Bartenders Union, Local No. 165 together with any amendments agreed to by the parties, excluding wages and other benefits in which the union is prepared to negotiate along with employee committee representatives. The Employer will not file a petition with the National Labor Relations Board for any election in connection with any demands for recognition provided for in this agreement.

   10. The parties agree that any disputes over the interpretation or application of this agreement shall be submitted to expedited arbitration to a mutually acceptable person, as the arbitrator. The arbitrator shall have the authority to order the non—compliant party to comply with this agreement. The parties hereto consent to the entry of any order of the arbitrator as the order or judgment of the United States District Court for the District of Nevada, without notice or entry of findings of fact and conclusion of law.

4. By SPFPAUNIONYES

   5/27/08 at 7:49 p.m.

   Suggest removal

   Security guards on Strip seek to organize
   At Luxor, targeted first, owner MGM Mirage fights back with carrots and sticks
   By Michael Mishak
   Published Mon, Apr 21, 2008 (2 a.m.)

   Security guards are trying to organize a union on the Strip, and the move has brought a strong response from casino giant MGM Mirage.

   The guards are seeking representation by the International Union of Security, Police and Fire Professionals of America. They complain of inadequate training and unsafe staffing levels, low pay and other ills.

   The casinos are fighting back, claiming that guards will get a better deal if they don’t organize. That argument worked 13 years ago, the last time guards mounted a serious organizing effort.

   The first test this time will be at the Luxor, where a representation election is scheduled for Friday. Elections at other properties will follow, said Steve Maritas, the union’s director of organizing.

   The national union is targeting MGM Mirage, which has a five-year bargaining agreement with the union at the company’s MGM Grand in Detroit. The company agreed not to campaign against the union in Detroit but is taking a tougher stand in Las Vegas.

   Management is holding one-on-one meetings with guards at the Luxor. The company is trying to prevent a domino effect at other casinos by conducting mandatory meetings at Mandalay Bay, whose 300 officers compose the company’s single largest security force, Maritas said. (The union filed an election petition for Mandalay Bay guards with the National Labor Relations Board on Thursday.)

   Under U.S. labor law, an employer has the right to hold so-called captive audiences during an organizing drive, provided that employees are paid for their time. Employers are precluded from making promises or leveling threats though, and the union says the Luxor is playing dirty. The union filed an unfair labor practice charge with the NLRB on Friday, alleging that casino management has threatened to withhold previously scheduled pay raises and other benefits if workers vote for the union.

   The complaint also alleges that management offered benefits and promotions to guards who vote against the union and is now soliciting and granting grievances from officers.

   An MGM Mirage spokesman said the company, though preferring that guards remain nonunion, respects the right of employees to seek union representation and has conducted itself within the limits of federal labor law.

   “Those same laws also allow the company to express its viewpoint and, if necessary, aggressively promote management’s belief that our best relationship with our employees is always face-to-face, without a third party intermediary,” spokesman Gordon Absher said.

   The labor board will investigate the union’s claims and set a formal hearing if it finds the charge has merit.

5. By SPFPAUNIONYES

   5/27/08 at 7:49 p.m.

   Suggest removal

   Guards say changes at the properties have been dramatic.

   Before the organizing drive, officers say, hiring and overtime freezes left properties understaffed and on-duty guards vulnerable. Cuts were so deep, they say, that a lone guard was sometimes posted on the Luxor casino floor.

   Some guards, who have little more than a 6-inch wooden “power stick” with which to fend off attacks and subdue troublemakers, say they felt unsafe. (Guards lost their guns in 2005 because of insurance liability concerns, the union says.) Backup often came from inexperienced, part-time guards.

   Since the election filing, however, MGM Mirage has reinstated overtime and boosted staffing levels, and is now offering officer-training classes, Maritas said. Battered patrol vehicles were replaced last week, and security booths are being cleaned, he said.

   Indeed, security guards say corporate executives are paying unprecedented attention. Luxor management held a focus group meeting last month to gauge the concerns of officers.

   The meeting prompted memo from Luxor President Felix Rappaport, who praised the officers for their dedication and apologized for overlooking their concerns.

   Rappaport, however, said that most of the issues were not of a kind that a union can negotiate.

   He urged guards to give the company another chance.

   Maritas, a feisty, chain-smoking organizer who grew up in the South Bronx, reveled in the response. On Tuesday he was holding court with about two-dozen guards at the Laughing Jackalope Bar & Grill, a no-frills joint attached to a low-rise motel across from Mandalay Bay, while an Elvis impersonator and a few ironworkers partook of the pizza he ordered for the security crew.

   “These guys are coming off their thrones because we are now a threat to their empire,” Maritas said.

   Guards interviewed by the Sun said they were shaken by MGM Mirage’s announcement last week that it was cutting 400 manager positions companywide. (Officers were granted anonymity so they could speak freely. A confidentiality agreement bars guards from speaking about security matters publicly.)

   Job protection was at the top of their wish list. Guards also hope to win seniority rights, a better internal promotion policy, a grievance and arbitration process and a company pension plan. They also want wage uniformity across properties.

   “Everything else is gravy,” Maritas said.

   http://www.SPFPALOCAL7777.ORG

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