Candidates put on hold

Michael J. Mishak

Monday, Nov. 12, 2007 | 7:06 a.m.

Union boss D. Taylor is taking his own good time changing hats, from that of chief contract negotiator for 60,000 hotel and casino workers to political power broker.

And it's frustrating the campaigns of Democratic presidential candidates who lust for the Culinary Union's endorsement - and manpower - to muscle a victory in the Nevada caucuses.

That decision day is less than 10 weeks away, and Taylor has yet to indicate which way the union will throw its all-important support.

It probably won't happen until after Thanksgiving, he said.

"We have to catch our breath," Taylor said. "I know the politicos don't give a hoot about our contracts and just want us to endorse. But we're coming off a difficult, eight-month campaign."

The Culinary kicked off its talks with casino operators in March, starting with MGM Mirage, the largest employer in town. As talks with MGM bogged down, largely over organizing rights at the company's CityCenter development, the union turned to Harrah's Entertainment and quickly secured a deal that included the union's largest-ever wage and benefits package. In turn, labor leaders used the Harrah's settlement as leverage against MGM and other Strip operators.

After a months-long public war of words, the Culinary, armed with promises from the major Democratic presidential candidates to walk picket lines, settled with MGM.

Another factor in closing the negotiations: the company's $5 billion deal with Dubai World, in which the Persian Gulf holding company would acquire a 9.5 percent stake in MGM and assume 50 percent ownership of CityCenter. With billions waiting in the wings, labor unrest - combined with national media attention - threatened to create a spectacle.

Then, in September, second-tier operators, such as the Sahara and the Riviera, signed contracts.

Downtown operators felt pressure to fall in line after the union announced the creation of an $80 million strike fund, members voted to authorize their individual negotiating committees to call a strike and the union started registering members for strike benefits.

It was as if the union were amassing nuclear weapons, said Gregory Kamer, the labor lawyer who represented the bulk of downtown properties. "It keeps everybody honest. The fear of a strike is what keeps everyone real."

Key to the talks was protecting workers in the case of a property's redevelopment - a likely scenario given the age and condition of some of the downtown casinos. This was new territory in contract talks.

In its Strip contracts, the Culinary won promises of severance pay for workers if a property closes, and that they would be called back to work if a property closes for renovation and reopens. The contracts also guaranteed organizing rights in the event that a property expands.

The union pushed for the same language downtown - and operators pushed back, arguing that such a package would prevent them from capitalizing on their new investments.

The Culinary set a strike deadline, bringing everyone to the bargaining table. In the end, the union essentially traded wages for job security, and inked its last big deal, affecting six downtown properties, just before Sen. Barack Obama swung by the Culinary's union hall to chat.

Taylor said the union accomplished its goal. "I clearly think the next time we sit down (in five years) downtown will be quite a bit different," he said. "We're seeing a regeneration down there, and this deal protects the economic fortunes of our members and their families."

There are more contract negotiations to be done before the union makes its presidential endorsement, he said.

First and foremost is Mission Industries, the industrial laundry that provides 85 percent of the linens used by Las Vegas tourists.

The union has been negotiating with Mission since last fall; its 1,600 workers in five plants have been working under a yearlong contract extension.

Talks are stalled over health care coverage, and the Culinary has issued a strike deadline of midnight tonight. Both sides are set to meet this afternoon.

The company has been busy quietly negotiating price increases with its customers so it can afford to participate in the Culinary's health plan, which covers members and their families at no personal expense.

Negotiations have also snagged with the new owners of the Tropicana, which employs about 700 Culinary members. The talks turned icy in August when the company expressed its desire to opt out of the Culinary's health care and pension plans. Tropicana's parent company, Tropicana Casinos & Resorts, also seeks concessions on the union's guaranteed 40-hour workweek and contract language that bars nonunion subcontractors. Both sides are set to meet Nov. 30.

So how about the union's endorsement of a presidential candidate?

"Frankly, we see this as a distraction," Taylor said.

To be sure, the Culinary is preparing for the caucus. The union has been registering members to vote and holding caucus training sessions. It also checks in regularly with its vast network of shop stewards to gauge where member support lies.

The Culinary is widely considered to be the best organized and most politically active union in the state, and the contract talks have provided campaigns a glimpse of the union's marshaling power.

Thousands of members turned out for a rally in March - both to kick off their contract negotiations and to hear from Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama - who hustled out from Washington - and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson. Then, in September, about 8,000 members showed up to Cashman Field in two shifts for a strike authorization vote.

Both were powerful examples of the Culinary's organizational muscle, which is critical in a caucus, wherein voters have to show up at a specific time and place to publicly voice their preference.

The public displays have left the political campaigns awestruck as they pull out all the stops to curry favor with the union. Each of the major Democratic candidates has met with small groups of the union's various negotiating committees. Obama had lunch with a small group of downtown workers at the Culinary's training academy in September and former President Bill Clinton met privately last week with about 100 members involved in the Mission contract talks.

"Obviously, we want their support and we've certainly made that clear," said David Cohen, campaign manager for Obama's Nevada organization. "We're absolutely willing to do what it takes. When you build something of that size and run it that well you can move mountains."

Campaigns say they are struck by the Culinary's so-called grass roots legitimacy, meaning the union's extensive member-to-member communication apparatus, developed over years of tough, drawn-out contract talks.

In short, the union can get out a message and rally its troops.

Taylor said the union's endorsement will turn largely on how candidates stack up on the Culinary's bread-and-butter issues: immigration reform, universal health care, education and retirement security. Culinary leaders say they'll also be swayed by the candidates' campaign organizations here.

The Culinary's decision to hold back on its endorsement has frustrated the leaders of its parent union, UNITE HERE, who prefer an early endorsement.

As other unions across the country quickly choose sides, Taylor says he refuses to be rushed.

The campaigns can continue to pound him for support but it won't come, he says, until his members are ready to give it.

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