Las Vegas union dispute simmers

Friday, Sept. 5, 2003 | 11:01 a.m.

A federal judge has denied a motion from a group of union members trying to regain control of a union.

U.S. District Court Judge Howard McKibben last week rejected a motion for a preliminary injunction from 12 former leaders of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 720 in Las Vegas who wanted to regain control of the 1,600-member union.

The international union, headquartered in New York, revoked the charter of Local 720 in April 2002, alleging violations of the union's international constitution, and a month later placed operations under trustee Robert Trombetta.

The international union said the local leaders failed to organize, discouraged new membership and allowed a breakdown of the democratic process.

Twelve former members of the union's executive council, led by Scot Roper, sought to regain control of the union, but the judge rejected the motion, saying that no irreparable harm would occur under the trustee.

Michael Urban, an attorney representing the employee group, said a hearing over the status of the trusteeship would be conducted Sept. 23 in U.S. District Court.

Urban said the international union did not comply with its constitution when it took over operation of Local 720 and that some of the financially lucrative Las Vegas contracts motivated the international organization to put a trustee in place. He said his clients don't have access to records that could be used to defend their position.

"This is just a matter of one big union coming in and browbeating a smaller union," Urban said. "Las Vegas has a very big, growing local, and there's a lot of money involved."

The IATSE represents stage, television and motion picture production employees and stage workers involved in trade shows.