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Monday, March 05, 2001
Las Vegas Review-Journal
DEALERS
ELECTION: Excalibur dealers reject union
With one more vote to
go, the Transport Workers Union suffers another loss
By SHARON GERRIE
REVIEW-JOURNAL
Casino dealers at Mandalay Bay's Excalibur voted by a nearly
3-to-1 margin against union representation by the Transport
Workers Union of America on Saturday. The vote was the 10th
such election by dealers in Las Vegas casinos since January.
Of the approximately 320 eligible dealer voters at Excalibur, 317
participated in the secret ballot election. The TWU received 79
votes for and 213 votes against representation. One vote was
declared invalid by both the union and casino representatives, and
24 votes were challenged for dual-rate employment.
Dual-rate employees are those that work part time as a dealer and
part time doing something else. Official certification of the
Excalibur vote will take approximately one week. After the votes
were counted Saturday night, John Marz, senior vice president of
marketing and public relations for Mandalay Bay properties, said,
"We are very pleased that the dealers showed such confidence
in (the Mandalay Bay) management by voting no in the
election."
Marz said the vote showed that management is communicating well
with its employees. The vote also showed that Mandalay Bay's
employees don't need someone else to talk for them, he said.
While union organizers were disappointed in the election outcome,
Jeff Osborne, a TWU representative, said Saturday that all the Las
Vegas elections are part of an education process that the union
expects will take some time.
Frank Trotti, a TWU union organizer, said the dealers are one of
the few casino employee groups working without a labor contract.
Because of the economic impact of their jobs on the casinos, among
other things, they are in need of union representation, Trotti
said.
Trotti said it is unfortunate that many dealers have voted against
representation by the TWU. When more than 80 percent of the
dealers signed interest cards for union representation last
October, the TWU was the only union that would take them, he said.
"No other union wants the dealers," Trotti said.
Trotti and Osborne are committed to the Las Vegas dealers and plan
to go forward with contract negotiations at the three properties
that have voted for union representation so far.
The dealers have approved organizing unions at Carl Icahn's
Stratosphere, Aztar Corp.'s Tropicana and Phil Ruffin's New
Frontier. Seven properties have voted against representation: MGM
Mirage's MGM Grand and New York-New York, Park Place
Entertainment's Las Vegas Hilton and Bally's, the Riviera Holding
Co.'s Riviera, and Mandalay Bay's Monte Carlo and Excalibur. One
election, at Mandalay Bay's Luxor, was withdrawn prior to voting
by the TWU.
The last dealer election scheduled will be Saturday at MGM
Mirage's Treasure Island.
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This story is
located at:
http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/2001/Mar-05-Mon-2001/business/15570558.html
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