Facebook
Fark
Digg
Reddit
Stumble
Thursday, March 12, 2009 | 2 a.m.
Sun archives
- Perini seeks union givebacks (3-7-09)
- MGM Mirage, Deutsche Bank financing talks fail (3-4-3009)
- MGM, Dubai World said in talks with Deutsche Bank (2-23-2009)
MGM Mirage's woes
Viewing video requires the latest version of Adobe's Flash Player
-
Tapped Out? seg. 2
-
Tapped Out? seg. 3
-
Tapped Out? seg. 4
-
Tapped Out? seg. 1
After meeting Monday to discuss a request that CityCenter and Cosmopolitan workers accept pay cuts and other concessions, building trades union officials were prepared to reject the proposal made by general contractor Perini Building Co.
A source close to the building trades, who said he was not authorized to speak about confidential negotiations, said that at a regularly scheduled building trades meeting Monday the unions decided they are no longer willing to negotiate with the general contractor as a proxy for the projects’ owners. Any further talks must be conducted directly with the owners — MGM Mirage for CityCenter and Deutsche Bank for Cosmopolitan.
“The council would rather have MGM Mirage at the table,” said Steve Ross, executive secretary-treasurer of Southern Nevada Building and Construction Trades.
Perini executives approached union leaders last week to discuss the financially troubled projects, asking for a $2-an-hour wage cut from about 11,000 trades members at CityCenter and Cosmopolitan. Perini also asked that workers surrender raises of about $1.75 to $3 an hour scheduled to take effect over the summer for many trades and stop taking 15-minute morning breaks.
The requests come as the contractor struggles to finish the $9 billion CityCenter project and the Cosmopolitan, with a price tag of more than $3 billion, by the end of the year and mid-2010, as planned.
People present at the meetings between the general contractor and union said Perini officials told them the project owners, who are working to find financing to complete the projects, had asked that the general contractor request the concessions. Perini officials did not say during the meetings whether there would be consequences if the unions reject the requests.
Union officials are waiting to be contacted again by Perini, Ross said Wednesday.
“It’s highly unlikely” the unions would accept the deal, he said. “We want to be part of a solution, but rolling back wages and benefits is not it.” Officials with Perini, Deutsche Bank and MGM Mirage could not be reached for comment.
So who's hurting? Is Perini losing money or is MGM out of money? If it's MGM, then shut the job down. They've got most of the Casinos on the Strip anyway, and I'm sure they are hurting, too. Their problem is that they tricked Dubai into throwing billions into the project, but now Dubai is hurting, too. This is what happens when you start a huge project without financing in place. Sheldon at the Venetian learned this lesson, too. They should have gone to the Wynn School of Business. Nah, let's take it out on the workers, as usual.
Hold in there union. Demand all of your pay. Don't worry they might just delay it all. Don't worry the financing might not pull it off and the investment stops. Much better to be unemployed and worth 30 dollars an hour than to work for $27. Get that raise of a $1.50 coming to you. Think how happy you will be at the next union hall waiting for work to find you when you can tell your brothers how you held out to your principles. Kind of like harry Reid telling us how great he is and how lucky we are HE is returning a few pennies in projects for the Dollars HE took from us with higher taxes and jobs.
The problem is the world economy has changed. Every private sector job is in jeopardy, but unions want their "fare share". You need to get a grip, times are changing and you have a choice to give a little, or a lot. Why not take a quick trip to Detroit/Janesville and see how the unions did for you?
So let me get this straight, the unions have caused:
1- the auto industry fiasco
2- the downturn in the economy
3- shipping jobs overseas
4- potholes in the roads
and the next solar eclipse. Did I miss anything?
I saw in a different story the the prevailing wage here is $56/hr for a journyman carpenter.
Say what?!?
And you wonder why business will break the law to hire illegals at half the price. Get a clue union members, you ain't all that and a bag of chips. Go ahead, go on strike and see how long it takes for American scabs to take your place.
The illegals are gonna do the job for a whole lot less than half of $56 hr. - the only problem is they don't know what the hell they're doing - and then it's gonna cost someone (usually the builder) even MORE money to get it fixed right. Better to pay a little more (certainly not $56 hr more) but a little more to get it done RIGHT the FIRST time by an experienced AMERICAN worker. The only good thing (if there is such a thing) about the downturn in the economy is that it's forcing illegals back to their own country cuz now even THEY can't get a job here.
All taxes trickle down, like it or not, and most taxes are regressive. So, we arrive at the centerpiece of this article. What is a "fair wage" in the current economy? Labor is asked to take a cut, but what is the corresponding cut for executives, officers and shareholders (?)
If executive pay is such and such an hour, and a construction worker pay is such and such an hour, without question the reported lump sum pay cut for the executive might look like a lot more, certainly in the media. But, truth be told, it's still a regressive cutting board, because someone making in the top, say, five percent bracket, is still able to live large after their salary reduction, whereas cuts are more likely to effect the lower paid employee as a percentage of their overall fixed or variable yearly expenses. Factor in perks, and stock options that can be sold for profits, taxed at 15 percent, and it's a sweet deal for executives.
Based on 52 weeks a year, and a 40 hour work week, that makes a total of 2,080 job hours a year. So here are some sample executive salary numbers, computed as an hourly wage:
$400,000 $192 per hour
$1,000,000 $481 per hour
$2,000,000 $961 per hour
Gregory - I totally agree - I like the way you simplified it all and brought it to the table in such a way that even I, who admits to being totally at a loss when it comes to economics 101, can fully understand and appreciate.
In my most humble opinion, until the fat-cats have their salaries reduced to the point where they are TRULY feeling the 'pinch' they will NEVER really 'get it' when it comes to the plight of the working class American.
azsk8fan is dead on the dollar with his last comment. The fat cats never got it, don't get it now and I doubt they ever will. Just ask any fearful employee @ MGM Mirage.