Union presses downtown casino owners

Michael J. Mishak

Friday, Oct. 12, 2007 | 7:22 a.m.

Of all the concerns facing casino and hotel workers in Las Vegas over the years, they haven't had to worry much about their employer shutting down and leaving them on the street with no severance pay. Las Vegas is growing, not dying.

But there's a new dynamic playing out now, causing concern within the ranks of the Culinary Union: that casinos in struggling downtown Las Vegas might shut down and be converted to other uses. So, in addition to concerns about wages and medical benefits, the re's a new variable in contract talks downtown : job security.

The recent sale and closing of the New Frontier on the Strip - which left employees on the street without severance pay until seller Phil Ruffin softened and threw them some money after the $1 billion sale - only drives home the Culinary's worries.

Those talks have been slow going, and the Culinary has issued an ultimatum to the owners of nine downtown casinos: Come to a deal - including language on job security, which has thrown a wrench into the talks - or else. Labor leaders are threatening to take "economic action" if bargainers can't reach agreements next week. That could mean anything from a simple picket to a large-scale walkout.

Culinary members have been working under a contract extension since June, and on Monday the union issued deadlines. The downtown bargaining group, consisting of El Cortez, Fitzgeralds, the Four Queens, the Las Vegas Club, the Western and the Plaza, has until Monday to cut a deal. The Fremont and Main Street Station, both owned by Boyd Gaming Corp., also have until Monday. The Golden Nugget faces a Wednesday deadline. The union is honoring its contract extensions with Binion's and the Golden Gate and will set talks with their owners later.

"We work better with deadlines," said D. Taylor, the union's secretary-treasurer and lead negotiator. "We want to clearly set a timetable to get this thing done in a way that works for all, and we want to find that out sooner rather than later."

About 5,000 downtown workers are working without a contract.

Language to protect workers in the case of a property's redevelopment - a likely scenario given the age and condition of some of the downtown casinos - is new territory in contract talks.

Under the Culinary's proposal, workers would be guaranteed severance pay if a property closes and would be called back to work if a property closes for renovation and reopens. The proposal would also guarantee organizing rights in the event of an expansion project.

"Those are huge ideas down there," Taylor said. "I think downtown is going through a very big transformation, like the Strip but on a different track."

The redevelopment language is prompted by a series of events on the Strip since the last round of negotiations in 2002.

When Boyd Gaming announced it would close the Stardust last year to make way for Echelon Place, a collection of resort hotels and a convention center, the union had to negotiate severance pay. When Ruffin sold his New Frontier, he initially refused the union's request for severance pay.

At least five of the downtown casinos have changed hands since 2002, and workers say they are feeling the heat now more than ever.

Adelaida Welson, a cashier at the Western for the past 12 1/2 years, said workers there are most concerned with job security, especially after the casino closed a wing of hotel rooms this year. Roosevelt Nibblett, a bellman at the Plaza for the past 16 years, echoed those concerns. "What if they decide to close the doors ?" he said. "How do you feed your family? This is about living."

The Culinary secured the job security package in the deals it signed with Strip operators and says downtown should follow suit.

But most owners are resisting.

"There are serious dollars on the table," said Gregory Kamer, the labor lawyer represe nting the downtown bargaining group and the Golden Nugget. "The union is still saying one town, one contract. They have to come off of that. You can't justify that in light of the average daily room rates and gaming revenue (downtown). If downtown is going to turn the corner, investors need incentives to capitalize on these properties."

Still, both the union and the casinos are hopeful a deal can be reached before next week's deadlines. The talks five years ago offer a precedent. In 2002 the union set a deadline for talks with downtown operators, bringing all but one to the table to ink a settlement.

This time around, however, the union has a powerful new weapon: an $80 million strike fund. Such a war chest is hardly comforting to downtown operators with small profit margins.

The union has scheduled meetings with the downtown owners throughout the weekend and into next week.