Culinary receives $1.9 million grant from Bush administration

Tuesday, March 16, 2004 | 11:18 a.m.

U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao and Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn were set to announce a national Hispanic Worker Initiative today at a news conference at Nevada Partners Inc. in North Las Vegas.

The Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union, parent of the Culinary Union Local 226, will be the first recipient of a $1.9 million grant to be presented as a part of the Bush administration initiative.

The money will go to the Culinary Union Training Academy and Nevada Partners Inc. to help the local union's members learn and increase their English skills.

"This is big deal for us," Culinary Secretary-Treasurer D. Taylor said this morning. "We want our folks to have upward mobility. We can give them the practical skills, but also having language skills will help them greatly."

Taylor said English is not the primary language for about 50 percent of the 50,000 union members in Las Vegas. The union has a large number of Hispanic and Asian members.

Various union and industry leaders planned to attend the news conference with the labor secretary, including John Wilhelm, president of HERE, Geoconda Arguello-Kline, president of the Culinary Union Local 226, Felix Rappaport, vice president and chief operating officer of New York-New York hotel-casino and Steven Horsford, chief executive of Nevada Partners Inc. and the Culinary Training Academy.

HERE and the Culinary Union work to identify gaps in occupational English skills that limit the availability of skilled workers to fill jobs in the hospitality industry. Along with Nevada Partners, the two help prepare Hispanic workers to qualify for available positions.