Dozens protest new tip policy outside Wynn Las Vegas

Saturday, Nov. 25, 2006 | 9:22 a.m.

LAS VEGAS - Dozens of protesters rallied outside Wynn Las Vegas against the resort's new policy that redistributes a portion of casino dealers' tips to their supervisors.

Chris Heath, a San Antonio accountant, said she joined about 75 other sign-carrying protesters Friday to show support for her brother, who is a Wynn dealer.

She criticized billionaire casino magnate Steve Wynn, the developer whose upscale casino resorts transformed the Las Vegas Strip. She said her brother's income has dropped 20 percent since the policy took effect Sept. 1.

"It's wrong for this big, rich man to steal money from people who live paycheck to paycheck," Heath told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "If he thinks his front-line managers don't make enough money, he should give them a raise, and not do it on the backs of their subordinates."

Organizer Jack Lipsman of the International Union of Gaming Employees said the group initiated the protest to stand up for the rights of dealers.

"For the first time in 75 years of gaming, (Steve Wynn) is taking dealers' tip money and using it to pay salaries," Lipsman said.

"We're not against (Wynn) in any way. We just want him to get this out of his system and reverse the policy, and we'll walk away friends," Lipsman added.

A resort spokesman said officials were out of town and unavailable for comment.

Wynn Resorts Ltd. officials have said they established the tip-sharing policy to equalize incomes between dealers and their supervisors.

Before the change, dealers at Wynn Las Vegas earned an average of $100,000 a year in wages and tips, while their managers typically took home a salary alone of about $60,000 annually.

Officials maintained the imbalance caused a shortage of workers willing to take on supervisory positions.

The policy, which also gave managers an increase in base wages, realigned dealers to an average of $90,000 a year, while supervisors began making $95,000 a year.

But some dealers have complained the change could cost them as much as $30,000 a year in tips.

Friday's protest was the latest action against the tip pooling program.

After the program was announced, dealers petitioned Nevada Labor Commissioner Michael Tanchek to issue a ruling on the legality of the policy.

In September, Tanchek said the practice is legal under state law as long as tips are shared with Wynn Las Vegas customer service employees.

At the same time, two Wynn Las Vegas card dealers filed a lawsuit asking a judge to throw out the program.

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Information from: Las Vegas Review-Journal, http://www.lvrj.com