Columnist Jeff German: Unions join forces to stay alive

Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2004 | 11:12 a.m.

In the era of the mega-merger on the Las Vegas Strip, the Culinary Union has no desire to be left behind.

We saw that in July when the Culinary merged with UNITE, the New York-based clothing, textiles and laundry union, to double its national membership to 500,000 and give it the resources to better deal with corporate consolidation within the casino industry.

And we're seeing it this week in the union's hard-line approach to stalled contract talks with Atlantic City casinos. Those talks could result in a strike and threaten cordial ties with some of the major casino companies headquartered here.

The union is insisting on a three-year, rather than a traditional five-year, deal so that collective bargaining agreements covering 17,000 members at a dozen Atlantic City casinos will expire in 2007 at the same time as contracts for 50,000 workers in Las Vegas and 5,000 in Detroit.

Union leaders are working under the assumption that regulators ultimately will approve mergers between MGM MIRAGE and Mandalay Resort Group and Harrah's Entertainment and Caesars Entertainment, the four biggest casino operators.

Having all future contracts end at the same time would give the Culinary more leverage with the casino conglomerates.

If global talks were to go sour in 2007, for example, the union would have cause to rally members in all three cities. The threat of simultaneous strikes in Las Vegas, Atlantic City and Detroit could be a persuasive bargaining chip.

"We simply need to be more solidified to deal with these gigantic companies," says D. Taylor, secretary-treasurer of the union's local in Las Vegas. "We don't know where this industry is going, but it certainly isn't going to be getting smaller."

Taylor, who has been involved in the Atlantic City negotiations, said things aren't looking good right now. The contracts expire at midnight tonight, and there has been no progress in resolving the key issues under dispute, primarily the length of the contract and the union's desire to maintain free health care for its members. A massive union demonstration is planned for the Boardwalk on Thursday.

Last week union members voted to authorize a strike if necessary, which should sound familiar to those who followed contentious negotiations in Las Vegas two years ago. Both sides averted a strike at the last minute after the Big Four caved in and signed agreements preserving free health care.

MGM MIRAGE is not involved in the Atlantic City talks. Its lone casino, the Borgata, jointly owned by its operator, Boyd Gaming Corp., already has a contract that expires in 2007. And Mandalay doesn't own a property there.

But Caesars, which has three Atlantic City casinos, and Harrah's, the operator of two, have a big stake in the talks. Caesars spokesman Robert Stewart said his company is negotiating in good faith but is bracing for a strike. Harrah's spokesman Gary Thompson said he's optimistic an agreement can be reached.

My guess is that both companies will indeed end up settling because they know that what happens in Atlantic City won't necessarily stay there. A striking Culinary Union would have no qualms about causing trouble for the mammoth merger of the two companies.

It would be a union that knows its survival is on the line.