Jeff Simpson says good times make a strike unlikely, at least in one set of Culinary negotiations

Sunday, June 17, 2007 | 7:01 a.m.

Now that Harrah's Entertainment has reached a deal with its 15,000 Culinary Union workers, the pressure is building on MGM Mirage to reach its own deal with the union representing 21,000 MGM Mirage maids, food-service workers and porters.

But the pressure is not as great as it was when Harrah's and Park Place Entertainment were the first to reach deals in 2002, when MGM Mirage and Mandalay Resort Group bristled at the deals' terms yet fell into line and signed their own deals.

Since then MGM Mirage has swallowed Mandalay Resort Group, doubling its number of Strip properties from five to 10. The combined operation is big enough to withstand the pressure the company felt five years ago.

Two main issues still separate MGM Mirage and the union: how wage increases will be made during the term of the contract and whether the company will grant the union card-check neutrality at future third-party ventures, including the Harmon and Mandarin Oriental hotels at CityCenter.

MGM Mirage wants the same type of wage increases the union negotiated in its 10-year contract with Wynn Las Vegas, where Culinary wages increase based on a cost-of-living formula.

MGM executives say that the Culinary's refusal to agree to that type of increase with MGM Mirage violates the Strip tradition of pattern bargaining, but they forget that Wynn Las Vegas was dealing from a position of strength when it negotiated the 2005 deal.

There was then no requirement for Wynn Las Vegas to recognize the Culinary. In exchange for recognition, high wages and a 10-year contract, the union agreed to the cost-of-living mechanism to determine annual pay raises.

In the current talks, a logical compromise would have the union give up its demand for wage increases based on MGM Mirage profitability. (I wonder: Is the union willing to take pay cuts if MGM Mirage loses money?) In exchange, MGM Mirage would agree that future third-party-operated ventures developed along with MGM Mirage casino resorts would grant the Culinary card-check neutrality.

Even though MGM Mirage is strong enough to play hardball with the union, I think the company wants to make a deal. Times are too good, and there's too much money to go around to risk a strike that would cripple the city.

One place there could be a strike - or a closing - is the Tropicana. A month after presenting their contract terms to Tropicana negotiators, Culinary officials have yet to hear back from owner Columbia Sussex Corp., a private Kentucky-based hotel operator that has slashed hotel and casino staffs across the country since it acquired Aztar Corp. last year. I have a bad feeling about contract prospects at the Trop.

Poker season is in full swing in Las Vegas, with the World Series of Poker under way at the Rio, and Bellagio Cup III and Venetian's Deep Stack Extravaganza also in full swing. After surveying facilities at the Rio, it's good to see that the once-dominant presence of online operators has been scaled way back.

The venue looks great and the event is off to a promising start with former world champion Phil Hellmuth winning his record-setting 11th bracelet last week.

After a rocky opening, with poker players cranky about long lines and funky designs on the official playing cards - they were ornery enough to boo the WSOP's commissioner at the series' opening event - WSOP staff replaced the cards, lines diminished and things appear to be going a bit more smoothly. The WSOP runs through July 17, with the $10,000 buy in championship event kicking off on July 6.

For players who want to play no-limit hold 'em events, Bellagio hosts one every day at 2 p.m. through July 7, with sign-ups accepted until 4 p.m., late enough for early WSOP bust-outs to make the short jaunt east on Flamingo Road. Bellagio Cup III's World Poker Tour event has a $10,000 buy in and runs July 10-15.

And for medium-stakes players, there's the Venetian tournament with buy ins ranging from $330 to $1,060, and events running through July 1.