Tropicana wants to change benefits union sees as sacred

Sunday, Sept. 9, 2007 | 1:21 a.m.

The Culinary Union and the major Las Vegas casinos may have agreed on new contracts, but that doesn't mean labor peace just yet.

Talks with the new owners of the Tropicana and a number of smaller downtown operators have turned thorny. The Tropicana in particular is pushing the union for givebacks, including retirement and health care coverage, which the Culinary touts as its finest benefits.

At its last main - table bargaining session Thursday, the Tropicana's parent company, Tropicana Casinos & Resorts, submitted a proposal to the Culinary Union that would eliminate some key worker protections in the union's current contract, according to D. Taylor, Culinary secretary-treasurer and the local's lead negotiator.

The company, an affiliate of Columbia Sussex, the Cincinnati-area operator of midpriced hotels, seeks to eliminate contract language that guarantees members a 40-hour workweek and protects against nonunion subcontractors, Taylor said.

Most disturbing, he said, is Tropicana's desire to opt out of the Culinary's health care and pension plans, a marked departure from standard Las Vegas business practices.

Since gaining a foothold in the local casino market nearly 20 years ago, the Culinary has considered its health and retirement benefits non-negotiable - and casino operators, with few exceptions, have obliged.

Tropicana's proposal, Taylor said, would effectively "decimate the union."

"This is your typical out-of-state corporation that comes in here in a way that wants to destroy the Las Vegas dream," Taylor said. "The company plans to make it a part-time, McDonald's-type workforce."

Tropicana disputed the union's characterization, but confirmed its intention to opt out of the Culinary's health and retirement plans. The company will propose alternative plans that are "more in keeping with the needs and costs required to compete effectively in a modern service workplace," Tropicana spokesman Hud Englehart said.

The plans, he said, would improve on the union's current system, which guarantees members and their families health care at no personal expense and mandates company contributions to a defined-benefit pension. "The company expects these plans to provide better protections for employees and their futures," Englehart said.

As for wages, Englehart said Tropicana wants an agreement similar to the one signed by casino mogul Steve Wynn at Wynn Las Vegas in 2005. That contract links raises to the consumer price index. The union is seeking a series of fixed annual raises over the course of the contract. Englehart said the company's proposal would guarantee workers receive wages and raises at or above prevailing rates on the Strip.

Englehart also confirmed that Tropicana seeks concessions on the union's guaranteed 40-hour workweek because it "wants to have the flexibility to serve customer needs at its property."

In the case of theme restaurants or other operations open for just part of the day, the company "wants to be able to hire people and pay them for the hours they work instead of an entire day," he said.

Tension over the contract has been apparent for months. Tropicana has fired at least 300 workers since taking over in January. Cuts have been even steeper at the Tropicana in Atlantic City.

The New Jersey Casino Control Commission says the Tropicana's workforce there has shrunk from 4,507 employees in January to 3,766.

New Jersey gaming regulators have intervened, objecting that cuts in the security force would have jeopardized public safety and violated regulatory requirements.

"I can't recall a situation where an individual casino was looking to cut as many positions as we have in this case," an agency spokesman told The Press of Atlantic City last month.

The conditions are not unique to Atlantic City, Taylor said. Las Vegas Tropicana workers have complained about job cuts, saying cleanliness, safety and service at the property have suffered. Taylor has asked Nevada gaming regulators to investigate and complained that they have not.

"I guarantee if they talked to the workers they'd find a situation that's unsafe," he said. "I think our (Gaming Control) Board has acquiesced and has no control over what's called a privilege license."

Dennis Neilander, chairman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board, said the number of layoffs at the Tropicana has prompted the board to "step up our monitoring," but declined to provide specifics

Neilander said New Jersey and Nevada gaming laws differ. In Nevada casinos must comply with "minimum internal control standards," but that does not include casino staffing levels, he said.

All of this comes as the Culinary mobilizes workers for a strike vote next week. The nearly 10,000 Las Vegas casino workers working without a new contract will descend on Cashman Field on Wednesday to vote on whether to authorize strikes at various properties if bargainers cannot reach new agreements.

On Tuesday the Culinary joined with its parent union, Unite Here, to announce the creation of an $80 million strike fund - the largest war chest in the local's history. Anticipating a tough round of contract talks, members approved a 30 percent increase in union dues last year to boost the local's strike fund, Taylor said. Members pay $41.50 per month in dues, up from $32.50 a year and a half ago.

The union is also negotiating with second-tier properties, such as the Stratosphere and the Sahara, as well as the operators of a dozen downtown casino s.

The strike fund comprises $10 million from the local, $20 million from Unite Here and a $50 million line of credit from the Amalgamated Bank, which is owned and operated by the international union.