Downtown hotels seek extended talks with union

Wednesday, May 29, 2002 | 10:59 a.m.

Attorneys for eight struggling downtown hotels have asked the Culinary Union to extend contract negotiations beyond Saturday's strike deadline.

And there were signs this morning that Culinary Union leaders, though they wouldn't come out and say it, were willing to grant that request, which would move the union closer to avoiding a weekend walkout.

Union leaders acknowledged Tuesday that they were having a difficult time trying to figure out how to settle with the downtown hotels on the heels of obtaining their richest ever five-year agreement with the major Strip operators.

"We've asked the union for an extension, and we're just waiting for them to consider the merits of that request," said Gregory Kamer, who represents seven of the hotels. "The economics are too difficult and the issues are too hard to put together in a short period of time."

Earlier this week Kamer told the Sun that his seven clients -- Binion's Horseshoe, Four Queens, Fitzgerald's, Plaza, Las Vegas Club, El Cortez and the Western -- could not afford the tentative Strip agreements, which give union employees a nearly $3.24 hourly increase in wages and benefits over five years.

On Tuesday attorney Sal Gugino, who represents the Castaways, echoed those words.

"We need more time to consider all of the options that might be available to bring a satisfactory resolution to both sides," he said.

Kamer and Gugino asked for a 60-day extension, but the union is unlikely to agree to that long of a delay. A 30-day extension is a bigger possibility.

Both sides were to meet at 2 p.m. this afternoon.

John Wilhelm, the union's international president and chief negotiator, declined comment on the proposed extension.

But D. Taylor, the union's newly elected secretary-treasurer, said talks with the eight hotels and possibly others could go beyond Saturday if union leaders felt they were moving in the right direction.

Taylor said legal questions first would have to be resolved and his negotiating committee members consulted.

"Ultimately a choice like that is with our members, and we're going to be talking to them," Taylor said. "Our whole objective here is to get settlements without having a strike."

Taylor said the 50,000-member union has an obligation to take care of the workers at the downtown hotels.

"A lot of the hotels we're talking about have some tremendous veterans who helped build this union," he said.

The union, meanwhile, is in no hurry to ratify tentative agreements with the four major Strip operators -- Park Place Entertainment, Harrah's Entertainment, Mandalay Resort Group and MGM MIRAGE -- which make up 75 percent of the union's membership.

Ratification votes were expected to take place next week, well after the strike deadline, Wilhelm said.

Wilhelm said the union was too busy trying to work out deals with the remaining 18 hotels with contracts that expire on Friday.

Though most of the properties are downtown hotels, smaller Strip resorts, such as the Sahara, Riviera, Barbary Coast and Stratosphere, are in that group.

The Boyd Group, which owns the Stardust, Fremont and Main Street Station, also has yet to settle.

Attorney Kevin Efroymson, who represents the Boyd Group, said he was hopeful of reaching agreements when both sides meet Thursday.