Union voting on whether to strike at Mandalay properties

Alana Roberts

Thursday, Sept. 23, 2004 | 10:59 a.m.

About 300 workers represented by the Operating Engineers Local 501 are set to decide today whether they'll strike at the Luxor, Excalibur and Circus Circus hotels after rejecting a two-tier wage proposal by parent company Mandalay Resort Group.

Jim McLaughlin, business manager of Local 501, said workers voted to reject Mandalay Resort Group's two-tier proposal July 7-8 with a vote of 171 to 2. The union doesn't represent workers at Mandalay Bay hotel and casino or Monte Carlo. The contract expired March 31.

The workers currently make $21 an hour with $2 going toward health benefits.

The two-tier proposal would keep current members at the strip agreement rate, but new workers would start at $3 an hour less than other workers.

Mandalay Resort Group officials could not be reached for comment.

The union currently has a Strip agreement with Tropicana, Harrah's Las Vegas, the Las Vegas Hilton and all of Caesars Entertainment's properties except Paris Las Vegas, which is on another contract. The Strip agreement is a five-year contract that includes a $4.30 increase in wages and benefits over the life of the contract. The properties began approving it in May.

The union expects the Riviera and Sahara to agree to the contract.

George Scott, business representative of the union, said the two-tier system would put new workers at a disadvantage to Mandalay Resort Group's non-union engineers.

"The $3 an hour would create a situation where our union engineers, which are more highly skilled, would be making $1.30 an hour less than Mandalay's non-union engineers at Mandalay Bay or Monte Carlo. I told them, 'If you want a wage rollback do it to the people you have control over first then come to me,' " Scott said.