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Vegas unions ponder effort to organize dealers, cashiers
November 03,
1999
By David Strow
LAS VEGAS SUN
For decades in Las Vegas there has been an unwritten, ironclad
directive from the casinos -- dealers and cage cashiers will not
be represented by unions.
Unions have taken hold in virtually every other job class in the
casinos, but dealers remain unrepresented in every Nevada casino.
They represent a sizable block -- the Nevada Casino Dealers
Association estimates there are 45,000 dealers in Clark County,
and 70,000 across the state.
From one of gaming's newest markets, Detroit, has come a
development that makes supporters of union dealers take new hope.
All three Detroit casinos have agreed to allow a coalition of the
Culinary, the Teamsters and the United Auto Workers to solicit
employees -- and the UAW will be allowed to approach
dealers.
Two of these casinos are partially owned by Las Vegas companies --
MGM Grand Inc. and Mandalay Resort Group. Dealers have been
permitted to organize previously in casinos across the river in
Windsor, Canada -- including in a casino owned by Caesars World.
"(Detroit) has opened the window," said Rob Rovere,
organizer for Teamsters Local 995. "The window is open, but
we've yet to see how hard they'll try to shut it in Las
Vegas."
Union insiders say there's interest in attempting to organize in
Las Vegas.
"I hear about it all the time from dealers," said Marty
Levitt, a union consultant who worked for 20 years as an
anti-union consultant. "The dealers are chomping at the bit
to organize. That's when you would see nuclear war in Las Vegas.
That would be when every competitor on the Strip came together in
a very loose alliance, and billions would be spent."
History shows that's not going to be an easy fight. The Teamsters
tried unsuccessfully to organize in the 1970s and 1980s, as did
the Operating Engineers. And the largest union in Las Vegas, the
Culinary, isn't interested.
But casino executives doubt there's much to organizing talk. They
argue that most dealers make a good deal of money through tips,
and aren't interested in organizing.
"If employees want to pursue something, they do it,"
said Mike Sloan, chairman of the Nevada Resort Association.
"But I haven't found anyone in the management of any property
I've spoken to ... that would lead me to believe that would be the
case.
"There have periodically been discussions or abortive
attempts to do that. But it's not anything the dealers have ever
shown much interest in."
Two organizing efforts in the last year, held at the Flamingo and
the Sahara, both fell apart.
"We just couldn't get enough to sign (election cards),"
said Jack Lipsman, vice president of the Nevada Casino Dealers
Association, who spearheaded an organizing effort among the
Flamingo's dealers earlier this year. "They were angry,
upset, worried, but they felt if they went for a union ... they
would be fired. If
the union vote fails, management cleans house."
Only about 10 percent of the Flamingo's dealers were willing to
sign cards calling for a National Labor Relations Board election.
At the Sahara, 60 cage cashiers were more successful, gathering 90
percent support. But at the moment before their victory, the
Teamsters -- the union that would have represented them -- backed
away.
"There is no more mob, no matter taking the money and
running," said a leader in the Sahara organizing efforts, who
requested anonymity. "Everything's on cameras, everything's
on the up and up.
"There's nothing corrupt going on, just the worry of paying
us a little more. That's what the big lie is."
The first step...
Many union officials believe dealers should be organized in Las
Vegas. The problem is getting a union to take that first fateful
step.
In Detroit, observers say the decision to unionize never really
was in the hands of the casino operators.
That's because Detroit is a union stronghold -- and the UAW is the
most powerful union of all.
"If you walk into Detroit, Mich., you need to understand that
the power structure is vastly different than a right to work state
like Nevada," Rovere said. "The UAW and the Teamsters
make up the power structure in Detroit. (Casinos) know if they go
into Detroit, they go into a highly unionized situation.
"They're not going to get away with opening a non-union place
(in Detroit)."
Sarah Ralston, spokeswoman for Mandalay Resort Group, confirmed
that the company will allow UAW representatives to approach
dealers at its MotorCity casino, set to open in Detroit by year's
end. She declined, however, to discuss why the company permitted
that step in Detroit -- and why it wouldn't take the same step in
Las Vegas. MGM Grand Inc. spokeswoman Shelley Mansholt also
declined comment.
Mirage Resorts Inc. spokesman Alan Feldman said his company
wouldn't necessarily dismiss a dealer's union automatically.
"It depends on what they are bringing to the table,"
Feldman said. "If they're bringing an extensive educational
program to work and develop skills ... if they're bringing value
to it, we'd take a look.
"It's not as if we have a magic switch that we say 'yes or
no'. Ultimately, it's the employees that make the call."
Casinos have traditionally opposed unionization for dealers and
cage cashiers, Levitt said, because of the vast amounts of cash
they're responsible for handling. If there's suspicion of
stealing, casinos don't want to go through the union grievance
process before firing a worker.
"They want absolute control ... the ability to hire and fire
whoever they want whenever they want," Levitt said.
"With a union, they would have to go through the union before
they can get rid of someone."
But Levitt points out that bank employees, who handle similar
amounts of cash, don't face such an environment.
"They don't have that absolute authority," Levitt said.
"It's a bogus argument they have." How significant the
Detroit decision will be in changing that attitude is debatable.
"We'll have to see how successful Detroit is, and maybe it'll
filter this way," said Mike Russell, business representative
for Operating Engineers Local 501.
But the Culinary and casino executives say that what works for
Detroit won't necessarily work for Las Vegas.
"I think if we start comparing city to city, the Reno and
Laughlin properties should have the same benefits (as Las Vegas
properties), and they don't," said D. Taylor, staff director
for Culinary Local 226. "I don't think the strength or
contracts in one city can translate into another city."
Union interest?
One group that is actively agitating for a dealer's union is the
Nevada Casino Dealers Association. Lipsman said the dealers
association is interested in using its organization as a
springboard for a general organizing effort, but said it would
need a union ally first. Certain unions they're interested in
working with include the Teamsters, the UAW and the Service
Employees International Union (SEIU). "We know a little bit
(about organizing), but the unions know a lot more," Lipsman
said.
The largest union in Las Vegas is the Culinary, with 45,000
members in Las Vegas. Officials there say they're not interested
in making a bid for dealers -- however, they would be willing to
assist another union should it make an effort.
"We're not interested in representing people if we don't
understand their jobs," Taylor said. "We support all
organized labor if they organize, but they have to put the
resources behind organizing workers."
Neither are the Operating Engineers, who attempted to organize
dealers in the 1970s. "A long time ago ... (Local) 501 went
after the dealers," Russell said. "It certainly wouldn't
be us again."
Teamsters Local 995, a 4,000-member union engaged in an aggressive
campaign to build membership along the Strip, indicated it wants
to be the union to take the plunge. "Growing the union's
membership ... is always the reason for organizing," Rovere
said. "If you control the dealers, you control the industry.
"That will be the most important fight the gaming industry
will have in the state of Nevada. At some point, (dealers) will
rise and we will organize these people in due time. I expect 995
to lead the fight for those people."
Organizing has been a struggle for the Teamsters, even over groups
such as front desk clerks and valet parkers. Rovere knows the
battle could not be waged by Local 995 alone -- but he said that
the national union is prepared to throw its weight and resources
behind an effort in Las Vegas.
"National leadership confers with (Local President) Mike
Magnani on a regular basis, and they're very aware of the
situation in Las Vegas and Detroit," Rovere said. But some
proponents of dealer organization have their doubts, saying that
to date, the union has been more talk than action.
Lipsman said he's approached the Teamsters and other unions to ask
for assistance in organizing, but said he's been rebuffed.
"We can't seem to interest any of them in pitching in and
helping us," Lipsman said. "The reality is, we're just
not going to have a union in the next couple of years unless we
can find a mechanism for educating the people."
The employee involved in the Sahara effort also expressed
frustration with the Teamsters, saying that the union strung cage
cashiers at the casino along for 18 months before telling them
they weren't interested in organizing at the Sahara.
"How can we (organize), if the Teamsters say, 'No way, Jose'
after a year and a half?" the employee said. "We
were pawns there."
Rovere acknowledged that the Teamsters, after 18 months of
communicating with the Sahara employees, declined to pursue
representation. At that point, the union was attempting to
negotiate new contracts for its members at the Sahara and other
Strip casinos, and did not want to antagonize management at such a
critical juncture, Rovere said.
"As an organizer, I hate to turn people down, but it does
happen," he said. "It was not the right thing to do at
that time at the Sahara. My most important consideration is to do
no harm to my current members.
"We're not going to start a campaign without having a plan of
action and a strategy to win it." If any union does move
forward with an effort, Levitt warned it would be a battle unlike
anything ever seen in Las Vegas.
"It would not surprise me if in the next year or two, there
may be the biggest single organizing campaign that the United
States of America has ever seen," Levitt said. "I
believe right now, there are unions in this community
collaborating, putting their resources together.
"These dealers are starving for representation."
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