Vegas auto dealer told to bargain with union

Grace Leong

Thursday, Nov. 21, 2002 | 11:01 a.m.

Las Vegas auto dealer Desert Toyota, one of 139 Las Vegas-area dealerships, repair shops and trucking companies targeted by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, was found last week by a federal official to have violated labor laws and was ordered to bargain with the union.

Machinists Local 744, which is in a recruiting drive targeting about 3,800 Las Vegas-area mechanics it claims are underpaid compared to their unionized counterparts in California, brought unfair labor practice charges against Desert Toyota.

Dennis London, a Machinist organizer, said the union was close to filing for an election at the company when it fired a service technician, Jorge Galindo, who was instrumental in building support for the election and that the firing chilled support.

Desert Toyota was also accused of improperly imposing a no-solicitation rule, interrogating employees about union activity, soliciting employees to engage in surveillance, threatening termination and promising benefits to get them to drop their support for the union.

Following a trial in Las Vegas on Sept. 10 and 11, San Francisco-based National Labor Relations Board Administrative Law Judge Lana Parke on Nov. 13 ordered the company to bargain with union. She also determined some 30 workers including service technicians, used car technicians, accessory and lube technicians qualified for the bargaining unit.

James Walters, Desert Toyota's attorney, declined comment on the union's allegations but said the company plans to appeal Parke's decision.

Local 744, which withdrew its union election petition in May to represent 20 mechanics at Courtesy Imports in Henderson, also filed unfair labor charges against Courtesy Imports on Oct. 7. The union alleged the dealer improperly terminated two employees that showed union support. That complaint is pending.

Machinists Local 744 represents 9,000 mechanics in California and up to 70 baggage handlers and cleaners at McCarran International Airport.