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Station Casinos Gave Workers Free Steaks, Possibly to Sway Union Election

Just a couple of days before Station Casinos workers voted on whether to affiliate with the Culinary Union, management tried to get employees to oppose the union with the lure of tasty food.

A steak dinner
A steak dinner, pictured above, is an example of a meal Station Casinos to its workers before a union vote. (Image: Lana’s Cooking)

The company served the culinary workers more than 500 complimentary steaks in 2019. Each was branded “Vote No!”

The giveaway was in response to workers previously saying the food they had been served in a free buffet wasn’t tasty. Food had become an employee concern.

By giving out the steaks, Station Casinos was hinting meals in the future would improve if the employees rejected the union during the 2019 vote. It turned out, the workers did oppose the union by a 627-534 vote.

Company Must Negotiate

Earlier this week, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) further directed Station Casinos and parent company Red Rock Resorts to recognize and negotiate with the Culinary Union.

Management had taken part in “egregious and pervasive unlawful conduct” leading up to the union vote, the federal panel said.

The NLRB also claimed Station Casinos’ actions “stemmed from a carefully crafted corporate strategy intentionally designed at every step to interfere with employees’ free choice whether or not to select the [Culinary] Union as their collective-bargaining representative,” according to the federal ruling.

In response to the ruling, Culinary Secretary-Treasurer Ted Pappageorge said it “affirms what we have been saying for years — that Station Casinos violated the law and the company must bargain with the union because of its unlawful actions that corrupted the prospect for a free and fair union election.”

Vote Was Fair

Red Rock Resorts spokesman Michael Britt said the 2019 workers’ vote “was a fair outcome that reflected the wishes of a majority of the Red Rock Team Members then and reflects it now,” according to the Las Vegas Independent.

The NLRB’s decision “upheld the findings of its own NLRB hearing officer,” and wasn’t unexpected, Britt added. The company is likely to file an appeal.

The controversy involves three gaming properties, including Red Rock Resort, Palace Station, and Boulder Station.

Decertification By Workers

More than half of the approximately 600 unionized workers at Sunset Station Hotel and Casino reportedly said in April they wanted to drop the Culinary Union as their labor representative.

The employees were in the process of signing a decertification petition, according to Station Casinos. Decertification petitions were previously signed in 2020 by a majority of workers at Boulder Station and Palace Station.

Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 165, represent some 60K workers in Las Vegas and Reno, including guest room attendants, cocktail and food servers, porters, bellmen, cooks, bartenders, and laundry and kitchen workers.

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Union Scores Decent Severance Pay for Many Tropicana Las Vegas Employees

When the Tropicana Casino permanently closes on April 2 — two days shy of its 67th anniversary — many of its employees could walk away with a year or more in pay.

An undated photo of the Tropicana casino floor. Many veteran employees will walk away from the doomed resort with a year or more in pay. (Image: bons-plans-voyage-ouest-american.com)

Due to a union contract in December, severance at the Las Vegas Strip resort includes $2K for each year of employment, with no cap on the benefit. So hundreds of employees could receive as much as $60K each.

“It’s a significant part of that workforce that has been working there for decades,” Secretary-Treasurer of the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 Ted Pappageorge said during a Zoom news conference earlier this week.

“In Las Vegas, hotels are bought and sold on a regular basis,” Pappageorge added. “New projects are welcomed to Las Vegas, but workers can’t be discarded like an old shoe.”

The Trop’s owner, Bally’s Corporation — which is unrelated to the Caesars property that used to be called Bally’s — has decided to implode the vintage Vegas property to make room on the Strip for a new baseball stadium for the Oakland A’s.

Nevada legislators approved $380M in public funding last year to help build the $1.5 billion ballpark.

Bally’s Corp. also intends to build a new casino resort adjacent to the ballpark, and longtime employees of the Tropicana are also being offered the option of accepting a lower severance payout in exchange for being considered higher on the list of candidates for employment there.

Pappageorge said the union’s contract with the Tropicana will apply to the new casino resort, but not to the stadium. However, the union does have an agreement with the A’s that would potentially allow stadium workers to unionize and negotiate union contracts.

“We hope there will be a path forward for all stakeholders so the Las Vegas A’s can join the Vegas Golden Knights and the Las Vegas Raiders to continue this transformation as Las Vegas, the ‘Entertainment Capital of the World,’ also becomes the ‘Sporting Capital of the World,’” Pappageorge told Casino.org last year.

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Las Vegas Culinary Union to Picket Caesars, MGM Casinos This Week

Culinary Local 226, the union representing 53,000 hospitality workers in Las Vegas, has inched closer to a possible Strip-choking strike. On Monday, it called for thousands to picket in front of eight casino resorts to pressure their owners to negotiate a deal for a new five-year contract.

The two-hour “informational” picket lines are scheduled to start at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 12 in front of Park MGM, Paris Las Vegas, and The Linq. Picketers are then expected to fan out to the sidewalks in front of Harrah’s, Flamingo, Horseshoe, Planet Hollywood, and New York-New York.

The last time the Culinary Union went on strike in Las Vegas was in 1984. (Image: Courtesy Culinary Union Local 226)

Instead of walking off the job, workers will join the picket lines before or after their shifts, according to a media release from Local 226, which asks all members of the public to “stand in solidarity with workers by not eating, meeting, or staying in a casino resort during an active picket line.”

The last time Culinary went on strike was in 1984. More than 17,000 union workers walked off the job alongside three other unions in what Local 226 called “one of the largest strikes in Las Vegas history.” Workers picketed for 67 days.

‘Disappointing’ Negotiations

Negotiations are ongoing between the union and the three largest Strip employers — MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment, and Wynn Resorts. However, Ted Pappageorge, secretary-treasurer of the union, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Monday that the progress made so far is “very disappointing.”

No strike deadline has yet been set. However, late last month, the unions announced that 95% of its Las Vegas restaurant and hotel workers voted to authorize a strike as their contracts expired. About 40,000 union members now work under expired contracts, according to the union, and they would be the first picket if a strike were called.

“There is now an active labor dispute with 18 casino properties across the Las Vegas Strip,” the union’s press release said, indicating that it can call a strike at “any date or time.”

The union is singling out MGM and Caesars properties first because it demands new language in its contracts’ no-strike clauses that allows the union to strike against non-union restaurants on union properties. This is not an issue at Wynn.

Other key proposals include substantial wage and benefit increases, expanded safety and technology language, and reduced workload for guest room attendants.

 

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Coney Island Casino Could Create 4,000 Union Jobs – Would They go to Locals?

coney_island_casino_could_create_4000_union_jobs.As the bidding and pitching process for new casinos to win licenses in and around New York City heats up, we’ll be taking a closer look at some of the local potential impacts. Known collectively as the “downstate New York” casino license tender, at least one new casino will open with two other full-fledged casino licenses possibly going to existing lottery casinos in the area.

The first and second licenses are “widely believed” to be destined for the walls of Resorts World New York in Jamaica, Queens, and MGM’s Empire City Casino at Yonkers Raceway in that city. Both locations already host large and popular video lottery terminal-fed (VLT) slot machines and table games and could conceivably garner one or both of the first licenses while a third license is entirely up for grabs under costly terms and potentially huge financial benefits.

The Minimum Bid is $500 Million

The minimum bid for each of the three licenses is half a billion dollars, however, as observers have noted in the past, the NYC area could be the biggest untapped casino market on earth with a populace of some 19 million people.

The Brooklyn Paper will be the main source for our article today along with our own reporting and a bag of facts generated by gambling authorities in the state, the World Casino Directory, and other sources as noted throughout the story.

Thor Equities is looking to develop property it owns on Coney Island, a historical icon as well as a southern Brooklyn neighborhood where opinions run hot and cold as well as tepidly indifferent to the prospects of a large new Las Vegas-style casino and entertainment complex there.

Developers believe some 4,000 new jobs would be directly and indirectly created in Brooklyn if the consortium’s eventual bid is ultimately accepted. Not only jobs but good-paying union jobs according to former New York City council member and a pro-casino task force member, Robert Cornegy.

According to the local paper, Cornegy believes that jobs with a decent wage and year-round employment would be created in the neighborhood between gaming, hospitality, and hotel operators opening doors to the middle class for many people who have not had such opportunities in front of them in some time.

Cornegy reportedly told Brooklyn Paper: “Being able to bring decent paying, year-round jobs is something that I feel like I am compelled to push and demand.

“For people of color, black people in particular, labor has created a pathway to the middle class in a lot of different industries. The hotel trade is one of the more lucrative opportunities.”

While some people don’t hold these sorts of jobs in high esteem, Cornegy says they can pay as much as $30 per hour and offer a chance at upward mobility as well as enticing benefits.

He particularly focused on the fact that the neighborhood already has its own “brand” and that built-in advantage could be wasted if it’s not used.

Community Board 13 is a New York City government entity that serves the areas of Brighton Beach, Coney Island, Gravesend, and Sea Gate. Public meetings are still held via Zoom rather than in person but the Board is still active.

Community Board 13 chair, Lucy Mujica Diaz seems to be wary of that number and told the Papoer that she wonders what percentage of those jobs would actually go to community members and stated that the jobs might not be the best match for many community members.

Mujica Diaz is quoted as saying, “I don’t see someone in hospitality lasting that long,” according to Brooklyn Paper. “I don’t think it would be a good fit for some of the people because there are still unanswered questions.”

Statistics for the neighborhood show a slightly higher unemployment rate than the rest of the city overall with 5.6% in Kings County compared to 5.3% for NYC overall.

A member of the “casino bidding team” purportedly stated that recruitment and job training would be preferentially provided to locals. Local job fairs and other “pipelines” of opportunity would also be afforded to local citizens. It may be of interest to note that when Bally’s was pitching its Chicago Casino, the first real casino ever in the nation’s third-largest city, a promised number of jobs and matches was part of the package.

According to Carnegie’s thinking: “I think it’s important to note how far, even when we talk about the disparities in the city, those disparity numbers are always increased in a place like Coney Island,” he said.

Diaz noted that the neighborhood’s current seasonal nature can feed into the lack of job opportunities as well. The Coney Island poverty rate is reportedly 24% while that of the city overall stands at 20%. She worries that locals wouldn’t apply for the obs as even making a single dollar more in salary can increase the rent people in public housing must pay. Over 100,000 New Yorkers live in one of the 79 developments operated by the New York City Housing Authority with about 11,000 Community Board 13 area residents being part of that number. C13 also serves Brighton Beach.

Better Pay is Not Always Attractive

Diaz explained in more detail how the current structure of eligibility for that housing complicates matters and asserted she was confident that not even 50% of the jobs would go to locals. Some senior residents simply don’t want or need full-time “lucrative” employment as the income would simply lower the income insurance benefits they already receive from Social Security.

There are regular community members who are opposed to the casino being located there as well. However, when it comes to “grassroots” organizations it’s not always easy or even possible to know true motives as casino license competitors and other “stakeholders” can easily influence the voice of opposition movements when checks and balances are not established prior the bidding process getting underway. Preliminary bidding for the licenses has officially been underway for several months.

The Paper noted that casino proponents are still in the process of “workshopping” a proposal and haven’t completed their RFP or Request for Proposal which city casino planners began offering in early January.

The state has still not published a submission date for the proposals being sought by the New York State Gaming Facility Location Board.

Cornegy maintains the project would be good for job creation. “This project looks to be one of the largest job creators in southern Brooklyn,” he said.

Source: Developers say proposed Coney Island casino would bring 4,000 new jobs to the People’s Playground, The Brooklyn Paper, June 15, 2023

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NagaWorld Union Boss Receives Global Human Rights Defender Award While Jailed in Cambodia

Cambodia has promised to take human rights more seriously, but certain actions, like the continued imprisonment of Chhim Sithar, call into question its commitment. Sithar is the leader of a union representing workers at Cambodian casino NagaWorld, and her humanitarian efforts have led to her receiving recognition from the US State Department.

NagaWorld protestors hold signs supporting jailed union leader Chhim Sithar
NagaWorld protestors hold signs supporting jailed union leader Chhim Sithar
NagaWorld protestors hold signs supporting jailed union leader Chhim Sithar. The US State Department awarded her its Human Rights Defender Award this week. (Image: Camboja News)

When thousands of NagaWorld employees began their strike in December 2021, Sithar was there. She and the workers staged their protest to try to convince NagaWorld to reinstate hundreds of employees it had let go.

Only a few weeks later, Cambodian police got involved, arresting Sithar and other union leaders for “disturbing the peace” during the peaceful demonstrations. Although they let her go, they arrested her again last November, and she remains in jail today.

Employee Crisis Becomes Human Crisis

Police re-arrested Sithar after she returned from a human rights conference in Australia. The government argued that she was on parole from the previous arrest and wasn’t allowed to leave the country.

However, when her lawyer asked for proof of the terms of her parole, the government refused to provide any documentation. It accuses her of “incitement,” and “disturbing the peace,” keeping her locked up as it determines what to do next. The maximum penalty for the charge is five years in jail.

Supporters of the protestors, as well as the US government and the United Nations (UN), have argued that Cambodia is using scare tactics to end the strike. They accuse the government of colluding with NagaCorp, the casino’s owner, to squash the strike by any means necessary.

The government has gone as far as to set up blockades to prevent workers from accessing the area of the strike. It has also frequently arrested striking workers and held them in jail cells, where the employees allege they were abused.

Cambodia asserts that the strike is illegal. This is despite the fact that it signed the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Human Rights Declaration in 2012. Among other things, the UN-led agreement specifically authorizes the right to peaceful assembly.

Since the strike began, NagaWorld has reportedly settled its dispute with 255 former employees by offering deals. However, as of last week, the remaining 118 are holding out. In addition, it doesn’t look like Cambodia plans on releasing Sithar anytime soon.

Highlighting The Hypocrisy

Cambodia asserts on one hand that it supports human rights. However, it condemns them on the other. As a result, the US State Department is hoping it can shed light on the situation. It awarded Sithar its Human Rights Defender Award this past Wednesday.

Sithar was one of 10 winners of the award. They all received recognition for their unabating desire to fight for human rights. The award goes to those who show “leadership and courage while promoting and defending human rights and fundamental freedoms; countering and exposing human rights abuses by governments and businesses,” according to the Department of State.

The Global Labor Justice-International Labor Rights Forum (GLJ-ILRF), which has been following the strike and Sithar’s treatment closely, welcomed the announcement. The executive director of the organization, Jennifer Rosenbaum, said in a statement that the GLJ-ILRF will continue to fight against the union leader’s incarceration. It will also continue to work alongside the union and the NagaWorld employees to campaign for better treatment.

Cambodia released a statement about the award, as well, although it only reinforced the government’s inadequacies toward human rights. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said in a statement that the award should be given to those who advocate for “peace, national harmony and reconciliation,” as long as they don’t do it by breaking the law. Sometimes, it’s the only way.

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