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twitterUnion leader says ‘card check’ is on Senate’s back burner
Sam Morris
John Wilhelm, center, president of Unite Here, said Wednesday that unions should focus on a cooperative relationship with management.
Thursday, Nov. 19, 2009 | 2 a.m.
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- Unite Here even more split as co-leader resigns in huff (5-31-2009)
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As unions continue to push for legislation that would make it easier for workers to organize, one of the labor movement’s most progressive leaders is sending a message to his colleagues: Don’t hold your breath.
John Wilhelm, president of Unite Here, the international hotel and casino workers union, told attendees at the Global Gaming Expo on Wednesday that the Employee Free Choice Act has dim legislative prospects — and that unions shouldn’t rely on it as a fix-all solution to labor’s decades-long membership slide.
“There is no possibility it comes up in the Senate this year,” said Wilhelm, also the onetime leader of the Culinary Union. “Whether it comes up next year is open to question, and whether it gets 60 votes in the Senate is open to question.”
He added: “I support it. But I don’t regard it as a magic bullet.”
The comments are in stark contrast to those of AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, who has pledged to get “card check” legislation, along with health care reform, passed this year. But with Congress bogged down in the health care debate, labor law reform looks increasingly unlikely — at least in the short term.
Focusing on gaming, Wilhelm called for labor and management to renew their famously collaborative relationship and work together to “reinvent” the industry as it struggles to recover from the recession. Over the past two decades, he said that partnership led to unprecedented growth, both in union membership and gaming revenue.
The Culinary grew from about 18,000 members in 1987 to 60,000 in 2007. The organizing was done outside the secret-ballot election process governed by the National Labor Relations Board, which can pit unions against high-powered management lawyers in long, drawn-out campaigns and legal challenges.
Companies agreed to recognize the union and negotiate as soon as organizers collected union cards from a majority of a property’s workers.
“Do we want a highly adversarial relationship in an industry that depends on customers? I don’t think so,” he said. “We all rely on customers coming in every day and they have to feel good about that experience.”
Wilhelm noted that the union and the casino companies established an employee training academy to revolutionize food and beverage service in Las Vegas in the 1990s, turning the land of cheap buffets into a world-class dining destination.
“I think unions have an obligation to represent their members in the fullest possible sense, including and in particular what keeps the industry healthy,” he said. “We don’t do our job if the industry can’t prosper.”
To point, Wilhelm cited an agreement the Culinary struck with major Las Vegas casino operators over the summer. Sympathetic to the casinos’ tumbling revenue, the union agreed to reopen its contract, ultimately postponing a wage increase in exchange for, among other things, an extension of recall rights — a requirement that casinos call laid-off union workers back to work, by order of seniority, as soon as positions become available.
Likewise, the Culinary’s sister local in Atlantic City settled labor talks with six casinos last week by shortening the term of the contract — two years instead of five — and agreeing to wage freezes in the first year. In return, the companies agreed to maintain health and pension benefits.
Tribal representatives in the panel audience Thursday were not convinced.
Some were still burning from a 2007 federal appeals court ruling that unions have the right to organize workers at tribal-owned casinos. The court upheld a 2004 decision by the National Labor Relations Board, which reversed long-standing precedent when it deemed the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians an employer under the National Labor Relations Act.
Several tribal leaders described themselves as “not anti-union, but pro-sovereignty,” arguing that tribal governments, not the federal government, should draft legislation governing organizing. Some said they were pushing for an exemption from the Employee Free Choice Act.
Discussion: 10 comments so far…
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One More Reason WHY We Need The Employee Free Choice Act NOW!
Did Rivers Casino Security Officers vote against unionization or did they Fall Victim to Jackson & Lewis Union-Busting FEAR and Intimidation Tactics?
http://efcaunionbustingclub.blogspot.com...
Rivers Casino Supervisor Physically Assaults Casino Security Officer During Union Campaign
http://efcaunionbustingclub.blogspot.com...
Over 300 Homeless People Expected to Participate in Informational Picketing @ Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh
http://efcaunionbustingclub.blogspot.com...
MGM Mirage Las Vegas Union Busting Tactics http://www.spfpalocal7777.org/NEWS.html
Union Busting Tactics 101 : http://www.unionbusting101.com/
EFCANow-
Agreed. The casinos have gotten away with far too much, especially those like Station and Las Vegas Sands that refuse to even let employees say "the u word". It's frustrating that EFCA can't be passed this year, but I hope they won't wait until 2011 or later to tackle it. America's workers can't wait. They should be able to make the decision on going union, not the big corporations.
card check is nothing but a violation of the workers civil rights...IT SHOULD NEVER BE PASSED..
It seems to me that the most equitable approach to this issue is for both sides to lay all the cards, in writing, on the table with the employees upfront. Allow the employees x amount of days/weeks to review, and then let the employees make an EDUCATED decision about whether or not they want union representation. Neither side should have knowledge of any employees vote.
Both sides could eliminate their version of perversion i.e. Union Busting and Corporate Campaigns.
Being on the back burner gives hope that it will go up in flames. We can only hope.
as someone who has seen the abuses, and a union member for 35 years, i am against violating the principle of our secret ballot. i am against card check because it smaks of "brown shirt" mentality and threats put out for union membership. this is a great threat to illegals who in Los Angeles are finding out the teachers union is threatening them with deportation if they freely vote for charter schools. the teachers union have failed the minorities of this country by keeping inept members working, drawing salaries and reaping huge pensions you or i will never see. too often in unions a small group seizes power and makes the rest pay for agendas that have nothing to do with what the union members need. it is a bad idea and unions need to take a deep look at themselves and ask why are they failing the American people. Detroit is a grand example.
How does getting rid of secret ballots make elections fair? The secret ballots were put in place to create fair elections so workers didn't have to feel intimidated by either party.
The card check legislation is just another back door policy to bully the American people.
Any reason why the sun has disabled comments on the Reid article? I'm not sure I understand the random and arbitrary way in which the Sun allows or disallows comments. Can a Sun staffer please enlighten me?
Card Check is for losers!
All persons of labor should have written legally binding contractual agreements between themselves and their employers that shouldn't require "union" organization to establish.
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