Leaders re-elected

Friday, April 8, 2005 | 11:08 a.m.

A slate of Culinary Union Local 226 leaders led by D. Taylor, the union's secretary-treasurer, has been re-elected to their positions after they were nominated Tuesday and were unopposed.

Taylor and Geoconda Arguello-Kline, the union's president, were nominated for a second time to three-year terms during two nomination sessions on Tuesday.

Taylor said since they were the only slate of leaders nominated there will not be an election for the top posts of the union that represents about 50,000 maids, food-service workers and cocktail servers at most Strip and some downtown hotels.

Darian Berry, a bellman at the Excalibur, was nominated for the position of vice president on Taylor's slate. Taylor said the renomination of his slate of leaders is a good thing for the union.

"I think that's a vote of confidence in the direction that this union's taken over the last several years," Taylor said. "I think that's a reflection of the hard work of the shop stewards day in and day out."

He said now that the nominations are done the union's goals include reaching a contract with leaders of the Aladdin and to complete the card check at Wynn Las Vegas and eventually reach a contract with that property as well.

"We're doing a lot of preparatory work for our contract in 07," Taylor said. "We want to organize the non-union (properties), merge with the laundry workers and have closer ties with all of our local unions that have gaming in their jurisdictions," he said referring to other UNITE HERE locals such as Local 54 in Atlantic City.

Taylor previously worked as the Culinary's staff director for ten years, and as an organizer before that.