Mandalay, union reach deal

Monday, Dec. 27, 2004 | 11:22 a.m.

Maintenance workers at three Mandalay Resort Group properties averted a strike planned for this week by agreeing to a sweetened wage offer from the company late Friday.

Workers represented by the Operating Engineers Local 501 voted by more than a five to one margin to accept a wage structure in which new hires will be paid $3 less per hour than existing journeymen but after two years will make what journeymen make.

Existing workers will receive an 85-cent raise to $21.69 and will receive subsequent 85-cent raises in each year of the five-year contract.

The union represents about 320 engineers and other maintenance workers at the Luxor, Excalibur and Circus Circus properties. Mandalay Bay engineers don't have a contract with the union.

On December 17, workers had rejected a company proposal that offered a two-tier wage structure for new hires and existing workers. New workers would have made $2.50 per hour less than the $21.69 per hour existing workers would make in the first year of the contract, with both tiers receiving 85-cent raises in each year of the five year contract. Union representatives protested that structure, arguing that people working alongside each other would have different rates of pay.

A federal mediator called in to help in the negotiating process was integral to the agreement, said Jim McLaughlin, business manager for Operating Engineers Local 501.

The union had anticipated holding a strike this week for maximum effect because the days before the New Year's holiday are among the busiest for Strip hotels, McLaughlin said.

"We were able to sit down and work it out," he said. "We didn't want to actually go on strike if we didn't have to."

Mandalay representatives were out of town today and could not be reached for comment.

The company ran newspaper ads last week seeking maintenance workers such as slot technicians and engineers to maintain rides at the Circus Circus Adventuredome amusement park. McLaughlin said he wasn't aware of whether the company was still seeking employees after Friday's agreement.